Table 1 Historical references (1550–1724) to the use of charcoal and black stone in drawing and paintings, and to the binder and structure of intermediate layers in panel paintings with white or off-white grounds
Historical sources | Drawing media | Binder of intermediate layers | Position of the under-drawing | Bibliographic sources | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Author | Date | Title | Charcoal | Black stone | Isolation | Imprimatura | ||||
On paper | Over prepared panel | On paper | Over prepared panel | |||||||
G. Vasari | Firenze 1550 | Le vite de’ più eccellenti architetti, pittori et scultori italiani, (…) | ✓ | Drawing transfer | ✓ | ✕ | 5 coats: sizea (applied with a sponge) | Over the size 1 layer: no reference to binder | Over the imprimatura | Maclehose 1960 (English transl.) (Original version) |
G. B. Armenini | Ravenna 1586 | De’ veri precetti della pittura | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Olszewski 1974 (English transl.) |
Anonymous (Spanish) | End of sixteenth century | Reglas para pintar | ✓ | Transfer | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Bruquetas-Galán 1988 (Original version, transc.; Manuscript in Santiago de Compostela) |
K. Van Mander | Haarlem 1604 | Het Schilder-Boeck | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | 1 layer: no reference to binder | Under the imprimaturab | Noldus 2008 (French translation) Davaco Publ. 1969 (Original version, transcr.) |
F. Nunes | Lisboa 1615 | Arte Poetica, e da Pintura, e Symmetria, e Perspectiva | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | 1 layer: oil with its drier | Over the imprimatura | Ventura 1982 (Original version) |
V. Carducho | 1633 | Diálogos de la Pintura, su defensa, origen, essência, definicion, modos y diferencias | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | 1 layer: no reference to binder | ✕ | Veliz 1986 (English transl.) |
P. Le Brun | 1635 | Recueil des essaies des merveilles de la Peinture | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Merrifield (1849) 1999 (Original version, transcr. + English transl.; Manuscript in Brussels) |
Anonymous (Portuguese Monk of the Order of Christ) | < 1640 | Breve Tratado de iluminação | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | 2 layers: no reference to binder | Over the imprimatura | Monteiro and Cruz 2010 (Original version, transcr.) |
T. T. de Mayerne | Lyon 1620–46 | Pictoria Sculptoria and quæ subalternarum artium | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓c | ✕ | 1 layer: no reference to binder | ✕ | Fels 2001 (English transl.) |
F. Pacheco | Sevilla 1649 | Arte de la pintura: su antiguedad (…) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | 1 layer: linseed oil | Over the imprimatura | Hugas 2009 (Original version, transcr.) |
Anonymous (Spanish) | c. 1656 | Tractado del Arte | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Veliz 1986 (English transl.) |
G. B. Volpato | > 1670 | Modo da Tener nel Dipinger | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Merrifield (1849) 1999 (Original version, transcr. + English transl.; Manuscript in Bassano) |
A. Félibien | Paris 1676 | Des Principes de l’Architecture, de la Sculpture, de la Peinture, et des autres arts (…) | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | 1 layer: oil | ✕ | (Original version) |
J-H De La Fontaine | Paris 1679 | L’Academie de la Peinture | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Sizing twice or … | … 1 layer: oil | ✕ | Massing 1998 (Original version, transcr.) |
F. Baldinucci | Firenze 1681 | Vocabolario Toscano dell’Arte del Disegno (…) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | (Original version) |
R. de Piles | Paris 1684 | Les Premiers Elements de la Peinture (…) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | (Original version) |
H. Gautier De Nismes | Lyon 1687 | L’Art de Laver, ou la Nouvelle Maniere de Peindre sur le Papier (…) | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | (2nd ed. Bruxelles, 1708) |
J. G. Hidalgo | Madrid 1693 | Principios para estudiar el nobilisimo y real Arte de la Pintura | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Veliz 1986 (English transl.) |
T. Corneille | Paris 1694 | Dictionnaire Universel des Termes des Arts et des Sciences (2 vols.) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | (Original version) |
B. D. du Grez | Toulouse 1699 | Traité sur la Peinture pour en apprendre la Teorie, & se perfectionner (…) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | (Original version) |
A. Palomyno Y Velasco | Madrid 1715–24 | El museo pictórico y la escala óptica (Books V, VII and IX) | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | 1 layer: size | Over the size 1 or 2 layers: no reference to binder | ✕ | Veliz 1986 (English transl.) |
