This virtual seminar discusses the pigments used in painting from prehistoric times until the early 18th century, looking at their chemistries, sources and production methods. The palettes discussed will be broadly divided into Prehistory, Antiquity, Medieval and post-Medieval to c.1704 with the significant introduction of Prussian blue. Both natural pigments such as ochres, carbon blacks, azurite, ​malachite, chalk, orpiment and cinnabar, and synthetic pigments such as lead white, verdigris, vermilion, red lakes and lead tin yellow will be covered.

(Other pigments introduced from the 18th century onwards will be discussed in a future IAP Virtual seminar).

Tracey Chaplin is an Independent Scientific Consult specialising in analysis and identification of artists’ materials and their degradation products on objects such as paintings, sculpture, furniture, manuscripts, wallpaper, textiles and architectural elements. This includes the application of microscopy, cross-sectional analysis, spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray fluorescence and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Tracey lectures in conservation science at the City and Guilds of London Art School, has published extensively and is one of four authors of The Pigment Compendium.

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