Technical examination of the Emerson-White Book of Hours: observations on pigment preferences and media application in a Flemish manuscript

Abstract

The Emerson-White Hours (MS Typ 443-443.1, Houghton Library, Harvard University) is a book of hours and missal produced in Valenciennes, Bruges, and Ghent in the late 1470s or early 1480s. There are seven full-page miniatures (many more have been removed), fourteen historiated borders, 28 historiated initials, and 24 calendar illustrations in tempera and gold. Text pages have shell gold trompe-l'oeil borders. The illuminators include Simon Marmion, the Master of the Houghton Miniatures (named for this manuscript), the Master of the Dresden Prayerbook, and one of the Ghent Associates. The goal of analysis was to determine if identification of palettes supported previous stylistic attributions. Focusing on the illuminations attributed to Simon Marmion and the Houghton Master, we demonstrate that technical analysis can support attribution by identifying differences in artists' pigment preferences, pigment blending, and technique of paint application, particularly how the artists render shadows.

Cartas Ejecutorias de Hidalguía (executory certificates of nobility): a survey in materials analysis, legal, and aesthetic contexts—two case studies

“…Under high magnification it is apparent that some of the applications were painted, coinciding with what Hidalgo Ogáyar states: Illuminators gilded using leaves only on large backgrounds but starting the 16th c. they preferred painting with gold dust, using a gum as a medium (there was no attempt to identify the binder) [60]. This historiated illumination is inferred to be layered on red lead, possibly minium, as evidenced by the strong lead XRF lines, coinciding with other reports on illuminated manuscripts [15,55].…”

“…Unlike religious texts such as psalters, gospels, and books of hours [15][16][17][18][19][20][21], technical examinations of legal documents are scant, with exceptions like the Mexican act of Independence [22]. Spanish executory certificates of nobility are relevant to understand both the society of the time, and the role of materials and techniques employed to enhance judicial content, including the verdict.…”

Towards a Sustainable Preservation of Medieval Colors through the Identification of the Binding Media, the Medieval Tempera

“…Vermilion (HgS) was the material of choice for the reds, and red lead (Pb 3 O 4 ) was used for the oranges. In addition to these two pigments, red/brown iron oxides were also used to a lesser extent [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Within the yellows, orpiment (As 2 S 3 ) was used until at least the 13th-14th centuries [15,22], after which it was substituted by other materials, such as mosaic gold (SnS 2 ) [23], lead-tin yellow (Pb 2 SnO 4 ) [14,22,24], and yellow ochres [14,21].…”

Manuscripts in the Making: Art and Science

“…A direct link also exists between research by Araújo et al into the degradation of silver paint [11] and the investigation of a mid-fifteenth-century French Book of Hours (Cofre no 31 from the National Palace in Mafra, Portugal), reported as a case study by Carvalho et al [12]. Additional case studies include two articles published by separate research groups, one in France (Denoël et al [13]) and one in Austria (Frühmann et al [14]), discussing eighth-and ninth-century manuscripts from Carolingian scriptoria; the Emerson-White Book of Hours, whose late fifteenth-century Flemish illuminations were investigated by Mayer et al [15]; and a study of the materials used in other parts of manuscripts, such as the decoration of the sunk-panel binding of a Venetian 'Commissione Dogale' , reported by Rampazzo and Di Foggia [16]. A survey of the materials used in over 50 Islamic manuscripts, carried out by Knipe et al [17], significantly expands the geographic origin of the original material investigated and emphasises the importance of moving beyond the well-known Western European tradition of manuscript Finally, the complex mathematical methods used by Calatroni et al [18] for the digital 'restoration' and interpretation of manuscripts-and their provision of additional multi-media content linked to the published article-serve to bring cross-disciplinary research on medieval manuscripts fully into the digital era.…”