Since its original publication in 1849, Mrs. Merrifield's two-volume
work on the technology of medieval and Renaissance oil painting has been
one of the foremost among a scarce handful of valued reference books
dealing with the subject. The work reprints (with the original language
version and its English translation on facing pages) manuscript
collections on painting and related arts dating roughly from the twelfth
through seventeenth centuries.
The manuscripts describe oil painting practices in several Italian
cities, and in France and Brussels. Most of them are recipe books,
revealing the artists' methods of making, purifying, grinding, and
dissolving many different kinds of pigments; of preparing wood and cloth
for painting; of making inks, dyes, and glues; and much more. Although
oil painting receives the primary emphasis, the treatises also cover the
processes involved in making miniature paintings, mosaics, and paintings
on glass, as well as those entailed in the crafts of gilding, glazing,
cutting precious stones, and many others.
In addition to a preliminary commentary on each treatise, the author
supplies an excellent introduction of almost 300 pages, in which she
discusses the significant material referred to in the "recipes" and
offers illuminating insights into the social history and artistic
practices of the periods covered by the treatises. Also here for their
comparative interest are several conversations Mrs. Merrifield held with
eminent Italian art restorers, along with an introduction and a very
helpful glossary defining technical terms used in the text. This latter
material was prepared by S. M. Alexander of the Conservation Center of
the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
