How to create colours

How to create colours

Today we can buy tubes or tubs of paint in just about every colour you can imagine. But over six hundred years ago artists had to mix up their own colours. They would buy the paint in form of a coloured powder or pigment that may mix it with a liquid binder. These are some of the pigments that may have been used to create the illuminated manuscript -

Orange

The mineral cinnabar was crushed to make the orange- red colour. This contained mercury, which is now known to be slowly posionous.     

Blue

The deep rich blue colour called ultramarine was more expensive than gold because the rock lapis lazuli was imported from Afghanisthan. It was reserved for painting the regal gowns and the amount to be used was specified by the patron of the work in the contract.

Gold

Gold was the most expensive colour after ultramarine. It was beaten into very thin sheets to make gold leaf. Gold leaf was applied to the picture and then made shiny by burnishing it with a stone.

Green

 When copper is exposed to air over time a brilliant green coating forms called verdigris. This coating was used by artists in their painting. To make verdigris, artists left a real copper coin in a dish of vinegar. The copper was melted, cooled and the separated into shavings to ground into powder for pigment.

                                                          

White

The brilliant opaque white of the white garments was painted in lead white. It was a very common pigment manufactured from metal. The lead content made it poisonous if a person was in contact with it for a while. It has now been replaced by zinc or titanium.

Pink

The purple-red colour came from a plant dye made from the root of a plant called madder. The madder roots were dried in the sun and then ground into a powder.

Purple

Crused sunflower seeds made the lilac shade of the colour purple.

                                        

Black

By burning animal bones in a sealed container, a pigment of deep blue-black to brown-black colour was produced. This was called bone black.

                                          

Tempera Colour

Artist's workshops in the Middle Ages were busy places. The apprentices would prepare the materials and colours, while the main artists painted.

1. The dry pigments were ground and mixed with water to form a paste. This was skilled work as grinding some pigments too much could spoil the colour.
2. Egg yolk was separated from the white, pierced and collected in a container. A little water was added before the yolk was mixed with the pigment paste.  

                                    

Porcelain Vase

Porcelain Vase

                                               

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C. The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures.
Porcelain was first developed in China around 2,000 years ago, then slowly spread to other East Asian countries, and finally Europe and the rest of the world. Its manufacturing process is more demanding than that for earthenware and stoneware, the two other main types of pottery, and it has usually been regarded as the most prestigious type of pottery for its delicacy, strength, and its white colour. It combines well with both glazes and paint, and can be modelled very well, allowing a huge range of decorative treatments in tablewares, vessels and figurines. It also has many uses in technology and industry.

Porcelain is also referred to as china or fine china in some English-speaking countries, as it was first seen in imports from China. Properties associated with porcelain include low permeability and elasticity; considerable strength, hardness, toughness, whiteness, translucency and resonance; and a high resistance to chemical attack and thermal shock.

Chinese Art

Chinese Art

Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world.  Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black ink or coloured pigments; oils are not used. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made are paper and silk. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls. Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, lacquerware, folding screens, and other media.

The two main techniques in Chinese painting are:

1)Gongbi , meaning "meticulous", uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits    details very precisely. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural   or narrative subjects. It is often practised by artists working for the royal   court or in independent workshops.

                                                 

2)Ink and wash painting, in Chinese shui-mo also loosely termed watercolour or brush painting, and also known as "literati painting", as it   was one of the "Four Arts" of the Chinese Scholar-official class. In theory this was an art practiced by gentlemen, a distinction that begins to be made in writings on art from the Song dynasty, though in fact the careers of leading exponents could benefit considerably.[2] This style is also referred to as "xieyi"or freehand style.

                                                   

Landscape painting was regarded as the highest form of Chinese painting, and generally still is.[3] The time from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period is known as the "Great age of Chinese landscape". In the north, artists such as Jing Hao, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to suggest rough stone. In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape painting.

Mosaic in The Dome of the Rock IN Jerusalem

Mosaic in The Dome of the Rock IN Jerusalem 

Dome of the Rock, Arabic Qubbat al-Ṣakhrah , shrine in Jerusalem built by the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān in the late 7th century ce. It is the oldest extant Islamic monument. The rock over which the shrine was built is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, is traditionally believed to have ascended into heaven from the site. In Jewish tradition it is here that Abraham, the progenitor and first patriarch of the Hebrew people, is said to have prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. Both the Dome and Al-Aqṣā Mosque are located on the Temple Mount, the site of Solomon’s Temple and its successors, an area known to Muslims as Al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf. The Dome’s structure and ornamentation are rooted in the Byzantine architectural tradition, yet its construction in the 7th century represents an early stage in the emergence of a distinct Islamic visual style.

The interior and exterior of the structure are decorated with marble, mosaics, and metal plaques. Although the mosaics are similar in technique to those found in Byzantine public buildings and churches, the Dome’s mosaics exclude any representations of human or animal forms, instead featuring Arabic script and vegetal patterns intermixed with images of items such as jewels and crowns. Arabic religious inscriptions run around the octagonal arcade.

The original function and significance of the Dome of the Rock are uncertain. The building is not a mosque and does not fit easily into other categories of Muslim religious structures. After the advent of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty in the 8th century, some Muslim historians began to report that ʿAbd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock as a substitute for the Kaʿbah in an attempt to relocate the site of the Muslim hajj from Mecca, then under the control of rebels led by Ibn al-Zubayr, to Jerusalem. Modern scholars have questioned this interpretation, citing the strong anti-Umayyad bias of ʿAbbāsid historiography as well as evidence that Mecca remained the destination of the hajj throughout Ibn al-Zubayr’s revolt.

the Christ Deesis Mosaic in Hagia Sophia

the Christ Deesis Mosaic in Hagia Sophia

Probes beneath the surface of the existing mosaic and cornice show that there was an earlier mosaic in the spot now occupied by the great Deesis. A number of gold tesserae made of darker glass were found beneath the cornice and these appear to be of sixth century manufacture.

The Deesis must have been completed in one summer season, from May - September, since there were two undercoats of plaster that had to dry before the final layer was applied on which the mosaic was set. The two under-layers were pretty straightforward. The first layer contained crushed brick, lime dust and chopped straw. The second layer was finer and upon this layer rough outline of the design of the mosaic was painted. The plaster on the Deesis panel was finely done with large trowels and has some variation in it on purpose. A slightly uneven surface would reflect gold mosaic in a lively, glittering way. When Justinian built the church in the sixth century the plaster work was fast and a bit sloppy - they had huge areas to cover - imagine the vast vaults to be done - in gold mosaic and not much time to get it finished. The uneven surfaces and joins of Justinian's time have given those mosaics a much admired, but unintended shimmer. It was much easier to lay plaster on a flat surface and fortunately, that's what our workmen had to cover here in the south gallery.

The same plastering method is found in Byzantine churches from Greece to Italy, Russia and Georgia. This technique remained the same for almost 800 years, until the end of the empire.

Before the mosaic artists began work, a huge number or mosaic tesserae had to be assembled in various colors according to hue and intensity of color. Each color might which require dozens of shades. Some mosaic was stone and other was glass. The stone tesserae included cubes of semi-precious stones, such as lapis lazuli and porphyry. However, it was the glass tesserae that had the strongest and most brilliant color combined with the subtle effects on light penetrating the cubes. A significant amount of the gold glass was from the 6th century and was 500 years old. The tones of gold ranged from deep yellow to a sun yellow and in many cases include what appears to be red gold and white gold. These variations are caused by the various colors of glass under which the gold leaf is laid, by the gold used, and sometimes by paint applied under the tesserae. In the background of the Deesis, silver is also found. Great care was taken with the selection of the gold. Our artists were experts at using various types of gold tesserae to create dazzling effects.

Byzantium was still one of the world-centers of glass production and its factories could produce tons of mosaic a year, which was exported throughout the empire, Western Europe and the Middle East.

Once the plaster had dried and set properly, work began on the topmost layer of lime and marble dust where the mosaic cubes would be set. This fine layer of plaster was applied in a patchwork of sections just large enough to be completed in one day's work. The plaster joins were easy for the restorers to see and record. It gave them a good understanding of how the mosaic was created. On this layer a detailed colored painting was prepared as a guide for the artists.

The Large floor painting in the Great Palace of Constantinpole

The Large floor painting in the Great Palace of Constantinpole

The Great Palace of Constantinople (Greek: Μέγα Παλάτιον; Latin: Palatium Magnum, Turkish: Büyük Saray), also known as the Sacred Palace (Greek: Ἱερὸν Παλάτιον; Latin: Sacrum Palatium), was the large Imperial Byzantine palace complex located in the south-eastern end of the peninsula now known as Old Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), in modern Turkey. It served as the main royal residence of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine emperors from 330 to 1081 and was the center of imperial administration for over 690 years. Only a few remnants and fragments of its foundations have survived into the present day.



When Constantine I moved the Roman capital to Constantinople in 330, he planned out a palace for himself and his heirs. The palace was located between the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia. It was rebuilt and expanded several times during its history. Much of the complex was destroyed during the Nika riots of 532 and was rebuilt lavishly by the emperor Justinian I. Further extensions and alterations were commissioned by Justinian II and Basil I. However, it had fallen into disrepair by the time of Constantine VII, who ordered its renovation. From the early 11th century onwards the Byzantine emperors favored the Palace of Blachernae as an imperial residence, though they continued to use the Great Palace as the primary administrative and ceremonial center of the city. It declined substantially during the following century when parts of the complex were demolished or filled with rubble. During the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, the Palace was plundered by the soldiers of Boniface of Montferrat. Although the subsequent Latin emperors continued to use the Palace complex, they lacked money for its maintenance. The last Latin emperor, Baldwin II, went as far as removing the lead roofs of the Palace and selling them.
Consequently, when the city was retaken by the forces of Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261, the Great Palace was in disrepair. The Palaiologos emperors largely abandoned it, ruling from Blachernae and using the vaults as a prison. When Mehmed II entered the city in 1453, he found the palace ruined and abandoned. As he wandered its empty halls and pavilions, he allegedly whispered a quote from the Persian poet, Ferdowsi:[1]
The spider spins his web in the Palace of the Caesars,
An owl hoots in the towers of Afrasiyab.
Much of the palace was demolished in the general rebuilding of Constantinople in the early years of the Ottoman era. The area was initially turned into housing with a number of small mosques before Sultan Ahmet I demolished the remnants of the Daphne and Kathisma Palaces to build the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and its adjoining buildings. The site of the Great Palace began to be investigated in the late 19th century and an early 20th-century fire uncovered a section of the Great Palace. On this site prison cells, many large rooms, and possibly tombs were found.

How to make a Mosaic

How to make a Mosaic

Byzantine mosaicists would have placed the tesserae directly into a bed of lime cement working a section at a time because the cement would quickly dry.

1. Have a go at  making a mosaic yourself. Draw your design onto a wooden base. The Byzantines had to work quickly, but give yourself more time by applying the tile adhesive bit by bit.
2. Use special tile cutters to shape each piece of tessera so they fit together well and follow the curves of your design. Tilt each one a little so it will catch the light.
3. Byzantine mosaics were never grouted ( filling the spaces between the tiles with fine cement ), but a fine layer applied to your design will seal it and make it stronger.