Artists' Pigments: c. 1600-1836
R.D. Harley

ISBN: 1-873132-91-3 • 2001 • $47.50 • Paper

Between the late sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries the artist's world underwent great and significant change; by the end of this period the transition from medieval to modern colors was well under way. R.D. Harley's book applies itself to a detailed and comprehensive examination of the primary documentary sources of this critical period, providing an invaluable compliment to the work of analytical scientists concerned with the indentification of pigments.

In the opening three chapters, attention is paid to the various documentary sources examined, from the learned treatise to the tradesman's guide, and in particular the problem of their reliability. The information derived from these documents forms the basis of the nine subsequent chapters in which individual colors, grouped according to hue, are investigated. In conclusion, the author addresses the development of color manufacture in this period of unprecedented industrial and social change in England. Great care is taken at all times to deal with the interpretation of color names used at different times, and with dates of discovery and commercial availability of new pigments.