Page - 240 - in The Vienna Genesis - Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment

240 The miniatures of the Vienna Genesis: colour identification and painters’ palettes black are well visible (Fig. 46). Shades and contours were defined in black. The boots on folio 23, page 46 and on folio 24, page 47 appear grey and the outline black (Fig. 46). This confirms the use of a brown pigment (grey in IRR) in combination with carbon black (black outline in IRR). Painter G mixed colours more than any of the other painters (Table 2). He usually worked with three to four well-defined shades. The sky and the backgrounds show a range from pink, violet to blue colours. In the faces, the shades are blue. The heads of Joseph’s brothers have violet shades in the background. Carbon black seems to be added to blue, green, red, violet, and brown colours. The black contours are painted with strong thick brush strokes. Discussion of painters’ palettes The pigments that could be identified and observed on folios 1 to 8, pages 1 to 16, (Table 2) confirm the art historical research by Zimmermann, who assumes one painter for these miniatures23. The identification of cinnabar on folios 1 and 2 and of malachite on folios 6–8 is not interpreted as specific for a different painter but rather as limited applications for certain parts. Cinnabar and malachite might have been also used on now lost folios. The art historical identification of individual painters for folios 9–10, pages 17–20, and for folios 15–16, pages 29-–3224, can be confirmed by pigment identification and technological observation. The use of azurite in blue, green, violet and grey parts on folios 11–14, pages 21–28, constitutes a specific feature with impact on the condition of these miniatures. An- other individual painter is therefore assumed for these two bifolios based on the palette. There is consensus among art historians on the attribution of folios 17–18, pages 33–36, folios 19–22, pages 37–44, and folios 23–24, pages 45–48 to individual painters25. The dif- ferences identified in the use of pigments and pigment mixtures confirm this stylistic con- currence. The painters of Vienna Genesis used similar palettes. The white, red, and brown pig- ments as well as the pink mixture are generally alike on all folios. They vary in the way highlights and shades are applied. Differences in the choice of pigments can be observed in the use of blue, green, violet, grey and black paint mixtures. Four of seven painters employed gold. Two painters used the purple of the parchment as colour. The choice of colours depended on the themes of the miniatures. 23 Zimmermann, 2003, pp. 220–222. 24 Zimmermann, 2003, p. 223. 25 Zimmermann, 2003, p. 223. Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0