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illuminators’ matErials and tEchniquEs
The Retable belongs to a group of artefacts painted in the new technique at
Westminster in the 1260s.38 Foremost among them is the Douce Apocalypse of
c. 1265‒1270, but it has not received a technical study yet.39 Its contemporary, the
Lambeth Apocalypse, features a palette slightly richer than that of the Retable40
as well as layered modelling and glazes. Pink draperies are built with different sa-
turations of the same organic dye: mixed with varying amounts of lead white or
gypsum it offers a range of opaque pinks for the base, mid-tones and highlights; in
its saturated state it provides semi-translucent glazes in folds (pl. 8a). Ultramarine
draperies are glazed with indigo creating effects similar to those in St Louis’ Psalter
(pls. 7g, 8b). Fabrics painted with indigo display gradations from thin washes (with
the parchment showing through as highlights) to thick layers with ‘furry’ texture or
highly reflective surfaces achieved by mixing saturated indigo with coarsely ground
gypsum (pls. 8c‒e). The red glaze over the gold leaf to be discussed below is either
kermes or, as in the Westminster Retable, lac.
The spread of gradational modelling in England is evident in the miniatures of
the 1270s prefacing the St John’s Psalter (pl. 9).41 Their mannered poses and drapery
derive from manuscripts made in London and Oxford in the 1260s, while their
38 Binski / Massing, Retable (cit. n. 36), pp. 16‒44, esp. 30‒35.
39 Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 180. Nigel Morgan: The Douce Apocalypse. Ox-
ford 2007.
40 In addition to the colourants found on the Retable, the Lambeth Apocalypse contains
indigo and brown earth.
41 See n. 26. Panayotova, Colour (cit. n. 4), no. 63. pl. 8: Photomicroscopy details of
drapery modelling in Lambeth
Palace Library, MS 209, fols. 3r
(b), 30r (a), 40r (c), 41r (d), 43r
(e)
Europäische Bild- und Buchkultur im 13. Jahrhundert
- Title
- Europäische Bild- und Buchkultur im 13. Jahrhundert
- Author
- Christine Beier
- Editor
- Michaela Schuller-Juckes
- Publisher
- Böhlau Verlag
- Location
- Wien
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- German
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-205-21193-8
- Size
- 18.5 x 27.8 cm
- Pages
- 290
- Categories
- Geschichte Chroniken