A new history of the techniques, materials, and aesthetic ambitions
that gave rise to the radiant verisimilitude of Jan van Eyck's oil
paintings on panel.
Panel painters in both the middle ages and the fifteenth century created
works that evoke the luster of precious stones, the sheen of polished
gold and silver, and the colorful radiance of stained glass. Yet their
approaches to rendering these materials were markedly different.
Marjolijn Bol explores some of the reasons behind this radical
transformation by telling the history of the two oil painting techniques
used to depict everything that glistens and glows--varnish and glaze.
For more than a century after his death, the fifteenth-century painter
Jan van Eyck was widely credited with inventing varnish and oil paint,
on account of his unique visual realism. Once this was revealed to be a
myth, the verisimilitude of his work was attributed instead to a new
translucent painting technique: the glaze. Today, most theories about
how Van Eyck achieved this realism revolve around the idea that he was
the first to discover or refine the glazing technique. Bol, however,
argues that, rather than being a fifteenth-century refinement,
varnishing and glazing began centuries before. Drawing from an extensive
body of recipes, Bol pieces together how varnishes and glazes were first
developed as part of the medieval art of material mimesis. Artisans
embellished metalwork and wood with varnishes and glazes to imitate gold
and gems; infused rock crystal with oil, resin, and colorants to imitate
more precious minerals; and oiled parchment to transform it into the
appearance of green glass. Likewise, medieval panel painters used
varnishes and glazes to create the look of enamel, silk, and more.
The explorations of materials and their optical properties by these
artists stimulated natural philosophers to come up with theories about
transparent and translucent materials produced by the earth. Natural
historians, influenced by medieval artists' understanding of refraction
and reflection, developed theories about gems, their creation, and their
optical qualities.
