The combined training and experience of the authors of this classic in
the varied activities of painting conservation, cultural research,
chemistry, physics, and paint technology ideally suited them to the task
they attempted. Their book, written when they were both affiliated with
the Department of Conservation at Harvard's Fogg Art Museum, is not a
handbook of instruction. It is, instead, an encyclopedic collection of
specialized data on every aspect of painting and painting research.
The book is divided into five sections: Mediums, Adhesives, and Film
Substances (amber, beeswax, casein, cellulose, nitrate, dragon's blood,
egg tempera, paraffin, lacquer, gum Arabic, Strasbourg turpentine, water
glass, etc.); Pigments and Inert Materials (over 100 entries from
alizarin to zinnober green); Solvents, Diluents, and Detergents
(acetone, ammonia, carbon tetrachloride, soap, water, etc.); Supports
(academy board, dozens of different woods, esparto grass, gesso, glass,
leather, plaster, silk, vellum, etc.); and Tools and Equipment.
Coverage within each section is exhaustive. Thirteen pages are devoted
to items related to linseed oil; eleven to the history and physical and
chemical properties of pigments; two to artificial ultramarine blue;
eleven to wood; and so on with hundreds of entries. Much of the
information -- physical behavior, earliest known use, chemical
composition, history of synthesis, refractive index, etc. -- is
difficult to find elsewhere. The rest was drawn from such a wide range
of fields and from such a long span of time that the book was
immediately hailed as the best organized, most accessible work of its
kind.
That reputation hasn't changed. The author's new preface lists some
recent discoveries regarding pigments and other materials and the
pigment composition chart has been revised, but the text remains
essentially unchanged. It is still invaluable not only for museum
curators and conservators for whom it was designed, but for painters
themselves and for teachers and students as well.
