What did ancient people make red paint from? How did our ancestors dye fabric?

In painting lessons we often paint with watercolors and gouache, and one day we were faced with the question of what we used to paint with before, when there were no such wonderful bright colors? I wanted to try to make paints and create a drawing with my own hands, but, first of all, I had to find out how they used to create, preserve and restore paintings.

IN Museum of Local Lore Krasnoyarsk we were told about how Russian icon painters themselves created not only icons, but also the colors with which they were painted. More than 600 years have passed, and some icons (for example, “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev, which is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow) continue to shine with all colors. People cherish and preserve their past and their culture in museums. And without knowledge of how our ancestors lived before, there will be no future. People did not have the opportunity to use the library and the Internet, but what they created still interests and excites people's hearts. We decided to try old recipes create paints to understand how the great masters did it.

Man initially took the material for making paints from what surrounded him - these were natural pigments and other coloring substances of natural origin. Paints have been around for so long that it is impossible to say when and by whom they were invented. Since ancient times, people have ground soot, burnt clay, mixed it with animal glue and created for their own pleasure. The caves were painted with ocher, clay-based paints, and soot - the first witnesses to the work of painters who have survived to this day.

Over time, people began to transform minerals, stones, clays and chemical mixtures (oxides, oxides, etc.) into paints. If you want to see today how artists worked thousands of years ago, you have to look into the workshop tempera painting, to icon painters. We decided to get advice from icon painters, but the Yenisei diocese told us that there are no icon painting workshops in Krasnoyarsk. Therefore, all subsequent material was studied using the Internet and reference literature.

We decided to find out which of the master icon painters represented the Middle Ages in Rus'. It turned out that at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. in Moscow, the greatest of the masters of Ancient Rus', Andrei Rublev, the founder of the Moscow art school. It was his reproduction that amazed us. Andrei Rublev's colors are intense, but light and light. The work in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra brought wide fame to the master. It is here, presumably in 1412-1427. Andrei Rublev painted the Trinity icon.

For his masterpiece, Rublev used lapis lazuli, a paint that was valued more than gold. Natural ultramarine was used only in the most delicate work due to its high cost. The paint was made in a complex way, extracting a small amount of the purest blue pigment from the mineral. This color can be seen on the cloak of the central angel in the icon.

2. Tempera painting

From books we learned that medieval icon painters used tempera paints. Thanks to icon painting, tempera painting developed and spread.

Egg tempera became especially widespread in the Middle Ages in Rus', as convincingly evidenced by the paintings of the 15th-16th centuries in many Russian churches. There are several types of egg tempera: from a whole egg, white, but the most widespread is yolk tempera.

We wondered why this type of technology has such a name? Since oil paints were not known until the beginning of the 18th century, artists tried to find a substance that would evenly dissolve pigments and allow them to adhere to various surfaces and retain their true colors. And they found such a substance - the yolk of a raw egg. Egg tempera remained a staple medium for artists for nearly 800 years.

2. 1. The basis for making paints is an emulsion.

It turned out that to obtain this paint, the egg is broken from the blunt end (from the side of the air sac). The hole in the shell is leveled and a bag of yolk is rolled out of it onto your hand, and the shell is washed with water to remove any protein remaining on it. The sac with the yolk is rolled from palm to palm and this cleans it of protein residues. Then the bag is pierced and the yolk is poured into the washed shell, into which a two percent solution of acetic acid is poured to the edge - so that the amount is equal to the volume of the yolk.

To prepare the emulsion, ancient painters used bread kvass in the same proportions instead of a vinegar solution. They believed that paints prepared with bread kvass applied “softer” and became more “sonorous” upon drying.

After adding acetic acid solution to the yolk, the composition was stirred with a wooden spatula. Pigment was added to the prepared emulsion and ground with the pigment. Now the emulsion is mixed with pigment in saucers or plastic cups.

This emulsion was only the basis for the composition of various tempera paints. Artists used pigments to produce different colors. After grinding the mineral, the resulting powder was diluted in diluted egg yolk and the paint, called “egg tempera,” was ready. It should have been used immediately after preparation, since in liquid form it could not be stored for long and could quickly deteriorate, as well as if used ineptly (when introduced into paint in its pure form or large quantities), contributed to the formation of cracks.

In the practical part, we will conduct an experiment on preparing an emulsion for egg tempera.

2. 2. Tempera pigments.

Pigments - coloring substances - can be of mineral, organic origin or prepared chemically from natural materials, mainly clays containing metal oxides or salts. Also in painting, dyes of plant origin were used, obtained from the leaves, bark and roots of plants (saffron, indigo, etc.), as well as pigments obtained by firing grape, peach seeds and animal bones.

The following were widely used in icon painting:

Natural earth paints ( various shades ocher, umber, green earth),

Paints prepared from natural minerals (malachite, azurite, lapis lazuli),

Pigments of animal origin (from cochineal),

Inorganic pigments obtained artificially or extracted from natural deposits (cinnabar, red lead, white lead, verdigris, etc.).

Medieval artists and icon painters were practicing chemists and often used toxic components to create bright colors. For example, arsenic for yellow, lapis lazuli for blue, mercury sulfide for red. These components were dangerous and difficult to obtain and were secretly collected and stored. According to medieval authors, the most ancient paint was lead white, which was obtained artificially by oxidizing lead shavings with vinegar. There was a special need for green pigments. A common paint in those days was verdigris, the color of which could range from green to blue.

When studying the paint layer ancient Russian icons it was found that the palette of colors of that time was extremely small. . Despite the small number of basic colors, ancient Russian artists, through skillful mixing, as well as masterfully applying one paint to another, achieved an unusually rich range of colors. (ill. 6) An obligatory component of complex mixtures was whitewash or coal. To achieve an imperceptible transition from one color to another, icon painters applied layers thinly, sometimes in the form of small strokes, working with a small squirrel brush. Sometimes artists used large crystals of pigment - this unified the color structure of the lower and upper layers, creating a feeling of harmony. Majority good recipes color mixing was strictly guarded. Therefore, the works of that time were distinguished by the originality of each author. It is also important to note that all the colors of that time carried a special meaning.

Most of the pigments used by medieval artists are strong, durable and applicable in modern paintings. Egg tempera is still used today by icon painters.

In the next chapter we will find out what base was needed for ancient Russian masters to apply tempera.

2. 3. Base for applying tempera. Soils.

Tempera paints are applied to different types of substrates: wood, fabric, metal, parchment and paper.

Egg tempera was intended mainly for painting on hard substrates, as it was fragile and prone to cracking, which could even occur from vibration of the canvas.

Therefore, works in egg tempera were almost always done on boards (icons). Old Russian icon painters used mainly linden, less often beech, and also other deciduous trees. Modern painters working with egg tempera use boards made of seasoned and dry wood.

Another important material used as a basis for painting was paper (it appeared in Europe in 1154). It is also known that some artists used paper as a basis for painting, after gluing it onto the board.

In ancient Russian painting, fabric was also used - it was glued to a board and covered with a multi-layer chalk or plaster primer. This glued fabric was called dragging. This method of preparing the base, common in icon painting, increased the safety of the board. The fabric for gluing was linen canvas or canvas woven from hemp. It should be noted that ancient Russian masters sometimes used simply glued canvas, covered with primer on both sides. For painting on canvas, a special primer was used, which was a mixture of flour and nut oil, into which lead white was introduced. This method cannot be used, since white lead is a toxic component.

2. 4. Varnishing

In Chapter 2. 2. we wrote that works done with tempera paints tended to crack. Therefore, varnishing paintings painted with tempera paints is extremely important:

The tones of the paints in a painting coated with varnish acquire intensity, which is especially characteristic of tempera paints, but at the same time the varnish somewhat darkens the tempera paints.

The paint layer, covered with varnish, acquires a pleasant shine, at the same time the picture is perceived more clearly, small pictorial details, often invisible in matte painting, are highlighted and emphasized.

The varnish film plays not only a purely optical role, but also protects the paint layer from the action of aggressive components in the air.

The painting should be varnished no earlier than one year from the date of completion of the work. During this entire time, the painting must be protected from dust, dirt, etc.

From the study of painting different eras It is known that until the 16th century, varnishes were prepared on the basis of amber, gum, etc. resins. Russian painters used mainly linseed oil, in which amber was dissolved. Sometimes paintings were covered with egg white (in the 18th century).

Conclusions on the theoretical chapter

We now know that medieval artists, icon painters, and book illustrators were practicing chemists and often used poisonous ingredients to create vibrant colors. We cannot use such paints in our work, so we will look for a plant-based replacement for them.

Most of the colorful pigments used by medieval artists are, of course, durable and resistant to external influences and are quite applicable in modern paintings. Egg tempera is still used today by icon painters. We will use this technique in our work.

In our work at the first stage we will use paper as a basis. Therefore, there is no need for coating with primer and varnish. We will perform the work with squirrel brushes, because we learned that in the Middle Ages artists used this very tool.

Chapter II. Practical part.

To create paints we needed:

Watercolor mixing tray;

Several raw eggs;

Mortar and pestle;

Several plastic bags;

Wooden plank;

Hammer;

File;

Strainer;

Small jar with lid;

Several sheets of paper;

Tea spoon;

Wooden round spatula;

Paper cutting knife;

Cup and saucer;

Squirrel brushes.

For pigments: copper strip, 2% vinegar solution, charcoal, white chalk, blue aquarium gravel, dry red pepper, dry mustard, tea bag, iron filings, steel wool.

2. 1. Manufacturing of pigments:

1. Green (verdienne): We scrubbed the copper strip with steel wool until it sparkled. Place the strip on a saucer and moisten both sides with vinegar solution. Let the vinegar dry and wet the strip with vinegar again. When the strip was dry, moisten it with a small amount of water. After 24 hours, the strip became covered with a greenish crust. When the crust hardened, we took a paper knife and scraped off the resulting layer of verdigris onto a sheet of paper.

2. Yellow (safflower ocher): 1 teaspoon of dry mustard was wrapped in paper and saved.

3. Blue (lapis lazuli): Place 1 teaspoon of blue aquarium gravel in two plastic bags. They beat the bags with a hammer on a wooden board until the gravel turned into fine sand. Grind the resulting sand with a hammer to make it even finer. Grind through a strainer to obtain a blue powder (lapis lazuli).

4. Red (litmus): 1 teaspoon of dry red pepper was wrapped in paper and saved.

5. Black (soot): To get the black pigment, we took a piece of charcoal, put it in two bags and smashed it into small pieces with a hammer on a hard surface. Grind the resulting sand with a hammer to make it even finer. Using a strainer, larger particles were discarded. The resulting black powder was poured into a paper bag.

6. White (alum white): Grind a piece of white chalk with a file until you get a fine powder. Wrap the powder in paper and store it.

7. Brown ink (sepia): put a tea bag in a jar and pour boiling water over it so that the water completely covers the bag. Added half a teaspoon of iron filings and 3 drops of vinegar solution. Let the mixture brew for 6-7 days. The resulting powder Brown pushed apart.

2. 2. Mixing and using different substances:

1. We ground the resulting pigments in a mortar so that they look like powder.

2. Prepared egg emulsion. The egg was broken from the blunt end. They rolled the bag with the yolk onto the hand, and washed the shell with water to remove any remaining white on it. The sac with the yolk was rolled from palm to palm, thereby clearing it of protein residues. Then they pierced the bag and poured the yolk into the washed shell, into which a 2% vinegar solution was poured to the edge. Mix everything together carefully.

3. Place about half a teaspoon of yolk in each bowl of the mixing tray. One of the remaining tray bowls was filled with sepia.

4. Then carefully pour a little dry pigment into each bowl, mixing the pigment with the egg emulsion using a wooden spatula. The result was photographed.

5. There are several secrets to applying such paint. If you need to get more saturated color, then you need to add more pigment. To obtain halftones, white pigment must be added to the color pigment. And medieval artists applied paint this way: they started with a layer of light paint, let it harden, then applied the next layer. This is what we decided to do.

6. After the drawing was dry, we finished our drawings by applying sepia shadows and outlines.

It took us about two weeks to work on these works. To create similar drawings using watercolor paints and gouache took several hours. Not everything worked out right away, but it was exciting. As a result of diligent and patient work, we painted paintings similar in tone to those created by medieval artists.

1. Medieval artists used natural materials and minerals to obtain paints.

2. Using modern safe materials, you can create paints medieval artist and make a drawing with them.

3. Technologies for creating paints in the Middle Ages were associated with toxic substances, and plant-based paints had a muted tint.

Color Minerals Origin Symbol, semantic load in Illustrations.

icon painting

Red Natural or artificial Mineral artificial paint based on sulphide Royal color, symbol of power and cinnabar; red ocher; minium; mercury Translated from Arabic it means “dragon power”, in other cases it is a symbol of Il. 1. Red cinnabar - velum in the icon of the Annunciation (beginning of the 15th

red organic blood." Poisonous. atoning blood, martyrdom. c.) from the Festive Row of the iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral

Moscow Kremlin. Natural cinnabar. Photography through a binocular microscope, magnified 10 times.

Yellow Light ocher; sienna; Mineral natural paint. Not poisonous. Yellow The color yellow symbolized the radiance of lead-tin yellow; Ocher is a natural earthen pigment consisting of Divine Glory, the color of the highest orpiment mainly made from clay. Light shades acquire the power of angels. Il. 2. Yellow and brown ocher - slides in the icon “Christmas red tone when heated. The golden color symbolized the radiance of Christ” (early 15th century) from the Festive Row of the iconostasis

It was one of the cheapest paints. Divine glory, in which the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The ocher is light and the saints abide. Gold icon background, brown, white lead. Photographing through binocular halos of saints, golden radiance around the microscope, magnified 6 times.

figures of Christ, golden clothes

The Savior and the Mother of God - all this serves as an expression of holiness and eternal values ​​belonging to the world.

Blue Natural ultramarine, Mineral natural dye or organic Blue - the color of the Virgin Mary, meant obtained from lapis lazuli; (indigo). also purity and righteousness. Ultramarine blue - water in the stamp " global flood» icons natural or artificial Non-toxic. Blue is the color of greatness, symbolized by “Archangel Michael with the deeds of the angels” (90s of the 14th century) from azurite; indigo divine, heavenly, Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Natural ultramarine has the incomprehensibility of mystery and depth from the mineral lapis lazuli. Photography through a binocular microscope, revelations. magnified 40 times.

Green Glauconite; malachite natural Mineral natural (crushed malachite) or Symbolized eternal life, eternal or artificial; verdigris artificial paint (verdigris). Used with blossom, the color of the Holy Spirit. Green is the mark on the “Annunciation” icon (early 15th century) from ancient times. It is obtained by oxidizing copper with vapors of the Festive Row of the iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral of Moscow vinegar or wine or kvass, which is then used in the Kremlin. Natural malachite, coal, white lead. The photograph was scraped, dried, ground. Russian painters, through a binocular microscope, magnified 25 times.

Not having good and cheap vinegar, they replaced it with sour milk.

Yar copperhead is not poisonous.

Brown Iron – and manganese-containing ochres; umber; hematite Il. 5. Brown ocher - pink wall in the stamp “David and Uriah or

Denunciation of Nebuchadnezzar" icon "Archangel Michael with the Acts of the Angels" (90s of the 14th century) from the Archangel Cathedral of Moscow

Kremlin. A mixture of natural cinnabar, brown ocher, white and charcoal.

Photography through a binocular microscope, magnified 40 times.

Black Charcoal Black - the color symbolized in some cases hell, maximum distance Image of charcoal.

from God, in others - a sign of sadness and humility.

White Lead white Mineral artificial paint. Poisonous. White – the color symbolized purity

Lead strips were placed in a pot of vinegar at 4 and purity. Basic lead carbonate (lead white).

weeks and exposed to vinegar vapors, then to the divine world.

which was washed and dried.

The history of paint production turned out to be the most difficult for me to find and present. Largely because there are many different paints, the same paints have different names depending on the place of production and, of course, the “fog” of history. To begin with, I will give a masterpiece of official historiography about the origin of colors in general, listen to what the curious are told to us.....- “Green is the color of vegetation and life, it is the most calm color for the eyes. In nature, green surrounds us, but until recently in Since Roman times, green pigments have been made from the juice of parsley, flowers and berries, including a green pigment made from dried unripe buckthorn berries, which was especially popular in England and France in the 18th century. XIX century the production of plant pigments for oil paints ceases: they are replaced by synthesized mineral pigments." ----That's the whole story, from ancient times, back in the Roman Empire, and then immediately jumped into best case scenario 18th century, although now it doesn’t surprise me. Listen to songs about green paint....
----"Several green minerals were used in painting. For example, the green of malachite, although durable, was not intense enough, and the Renaissance masters found a way out in glazing - they applied transparent yellow paint over blue. (that is, the Renaissance masters used green paint there wasn’t!!!, they obtained it through layer-by-layer application, without even mixing, since not all paints were mixed, and even now not all paints can be mixed, production technology does not allow)... Natural green “earths” They gave the main range of shades and, depending on the place of extraction, received names: Bohemian Green Land, Verona, French, German, etc.
So green colors:
Volkonskoite PG2
Opened in 1830 in the Perm province. Named in honor of His Serene Highness Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky, Field Marshal General, participant Patriotic War 1812. The origin is exogenous.
Volkonskoite is formed as a result of the interaction of groundwater enriched in chromium with organic matter (with branches and fragments of tree trunks buried in coarse material). As a result of this interaction, chromium compounds were reduced, forming, together with iron, silica and alumina dissolved in water, this material CaO3(CrIII,Mg, FeIII)2(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2 4(H2O).

Known in just a few places globe. The most significant deposits of this mineral are known in Russia, in Perm region, in smaller quantities in Udmurtia, Kirov region. It occurs in the form of veins and columnar bodies lying horizontally or obliquely among sandstones (sands) and conglomerates (pebbles) deposited in the beds of ancient rivers at the end of Permian period(about 255 million years ago).

The mineral is highly valued by artists, as it produces high-quality olive-colored paint with high glazing ability, the refractive index of volkonskoite n 1.5–1.63. After drying, the paint forms a film that is resistant to external influences and does not change under the influence of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide gases.
And then we need to support the ancient icon painters......well, here’s the ambassador’s song........
--- Icon painters, long before the official discovery of this mineral, used it to make a beautiful green pigment that retained its color for centuries; an example is the well-known icon “Holy Apostles Peter and Paul” from the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral of the 11th century. Typically, the cloak of John the Baptist is depicted in green using this mineral. In the Middle Ages, volkonskoite was used frequently and was highly valued. It can be used not only in the production of artistic paints, but also in other types of industry, in restoration work, in icon painting, for the production of enamels, glazes in ceramics and pottery, and the production of protective and decorative paints (Wolkonskoite can withstand temperatures up to 1500 °C).
Glauconite PG 23, “green earth” (from the Greek glaukos - bluish-green), mineral, hydrous aluminosilicate of iron, silica and potassium oxide of variable composition (K,Na) (Fe3,Al,Mg)2(Si,Al)4O10 (OH)2. Glauconitic earths have a wide range of colors, from deep olive green to emerald and bluish green. Dark green glauconites with a cool hue are considered the rarest and most valuable.
As an independent mineral appearance known since 1828 from the work of Kerferstein, who gave it its name. Traditionally used in icon painting. Due to its long-lasting green color, it is used as a natural pigment. oil painting in the form of glaze paint, refractive index n 1.590–1.644, as well as for the production of green paints for industrial purposes.
Verona green earth PG 23 is a transparent dark green, with warm shade pigment, earth from the basalt tuff deposit at Brentonico, located in the Italian province of Verona. The best "Verona soil", which was distinguished by its bluish tint, is no longer accessible due to a landslide in 1922 as a result of a great earthquake. The quality of land currently available when compared with its historical counterpart is considered average

Along with azurite, malachite was widely used in Chinese paintings 9th–10th centuries and in Buddhist frescoes of Japan. Its wide distribution and ease of extraction have made it a fairly common pigment in tempera painting. Cennino Cennini notes that “if you grind it too finely, the paint will turn out to be a dirty, ashen color.”... Here is ancient Chinese painting again, Ancient Rome and here is the reality.....Emerald green, emerald green PG 18. This pigment has been known since 1838. In painting it is used with mid-19th century. Chemical composition– hydrated chromium (III) oxide Cr2O3 nH2O, where n = 1.5–3. It has a beautiful emerald green color. Very lightfast paint, stable in mixtures and used in all types of painting.
Viridian (PG 18) (from Latin viridis - green).
The first record of the use of emerald green under the name Viridian as a color name appeared in English in the 1860s.
Emerald Green, presented in the Schmincke Norma Professional Oil Colors series of oil paints, contains the following pigments: PG18 - Viridian, PG36 - Phthalo Green, PG50 - Cobalt Green, PW6-Titanium White.
Chromium oxide PG17 is an inorganic pigment, which is a green powder of various shades (gray-green, olive, etc.), and in terms of its chemical composition it is more or less pure anhydrous chromium oxide Cr2O3. The pigment was obtained in 1809 and has been used in painting since the mid-19th century, although during research it was found in the painting English artist Turner, which dates back to 1812. Chromium oxide is a light-resistant paint that does not change in mixtures and has low oil absorption.

Cobalt green PG 19 – light and dark. Light – cold green in color. The chemical composition is a solid solution of cobalt oxide (CoO) in zinc oxide (ZnO) at a temperature of 1100–1200°C. Opened in 1780.
Cobalt green light (CoO nZnO mAl2O3), Cobalt green dark (CoO nZnO mAl2O3 xMgO).
In painting, dark cobalt has been known since 1858, light cobalt since 1880.
The raw materials for producing green cobalt are zinc white and cobalt sulfate.
Depending on the quantitative ratio of zinc oxide and cobalt salt, different shades of pigment are obtained. Of all the cobalt pigments, green is the cheapest due to its low cobalt oxide content.
Green pigments based on copper phthalocyanine, like blue ones, were obtained in 1935 and have been used in practice since 1938.
....this is perhaps a truly “ancient” and easy to obtain paint......
Verdigris is one of the oldest paints. It went on sale under several names, including Yar Venice. The latter can be considered rather as one of the varieties (variety) of the verdigris.
This is usually copper acetate, expressed by the formula: Cu(CH3COO)2*nCu(OH)2 *H2O.
Some paint researchers classify verdigris as a blue color on the grounds that when mixed with white, it gives a blue color.
We must not forget that paint is not only a pigment, it is also binder, on which the durability of the paint, its brightness and method of application largely depend!
Let's listen to another pearl of official historiography.....
---- "Not all pigments can be used in any painting technique, since not each of them, when mixed (grinded) with different types of binders - adhesives, oils, etc. - retains its inherent color. That is why in oil painting As a rule, only those pigments are used with which a color-fast paste is obtained; such a paste, being transferred to the ground, is long time retains color and texture. The appearance and use of this or that pigment in painting each time has its own background. Thus, before they mastered the technique of oil painting, Russian artists knew pigments that could be converted into paints using water-soluble adhesives, lime milk, emulsions of chicken yolk, protein, and even resins, as well as dissolved solid resins. (here is the story - known since ancient times, but based on chicken yolk, white and parsley juice!!!)
Paints prepared on linseed oil were probably also known, but they were used exclusively for painting and other decorative works. Russians began to become acquainted with the colors of oil painting proper only in the last quarter of the 17th century, perceiving practically new technology and technology either from artists from the western regions annexed to Russia, or from foreign artists, invited to the Sovereign Armory Chamber. By this time, the pigments that were most suitable for oil painting had already been tested by Western European practice since the 15th century. (it's boring Europe, of course) About the colors of oil painting, with early XVIII centuries used by Russian artists, a few written sources report - primarily invoices and correspondence about the acquisition of paints for the Academy of Arts. Of the modern works, the most complete and detailed information about paints brought to Russia or prepared at the Academy is contained in the book by A. N. Luzhetskaya and in the fourth volume of the extensive work of P. M. Lukyanov.
Handicraft and small-scale production of pigments for monumental and easel painting in Russia it was already quite developed in the pre-Petrine era. Extensive trade relations with foreign countries contributed to the emergence of new pigments in Russia. However, neither in the 18th century, nor even in the first half of the 19th century, was it accepted to import and purchase ready-made oil paints - mainly because they did not withstand long-term storage: firstly, quickly hardening oil paints were used as a binder in the 18th century. varnish, and secondly, the packaging in those days was not airtight enough. (that’s the logic, but everyone knew, everything was only in Europe, but they didn’t buy ours, they couldn’t pack it hermetically, there was no packaging!!!) Metal packaging, in particular the lead tubes familiar to modern artists, appeared only in the 19th century .
Here is the history of very important yellow colors...
---Shishgel refers to organic paints - or rather, it consists of an organic coloring matter and a mineral base. It was known to Russian icon painters, and they obtained it by precipitating buckthorn juice on chalk or German whitewash (lead whitewash). IN Full meeting laws of the Russian Empire it is written that “gishpan thick shishgel, dark shishgel, ordinary shishgel, which is called blyagir,” was made from the juice of buckthorn and birch leaves. In oil painting, shishgel was used only if the paint was based on white lead. Like lead white, it had light fastness and good hiding power, since buckthorn is exceptionally lightfast.
Rauschgelb is also based on an organic dye deposited on lead white, but this can only be judged from written sources of the 18th century. The color of this paint is characterized as follows: “Rakhgil is yellow like chicken yolk, soft like flour.” The reddish tint is also determined by the name rauschgelb, which, in accordance with the old meaning of the word “rausch”, can be translated as red-yellow. The paint was very durable, i.e. lightfast, and did not deteriorate in combination with other paints.
At the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century, both yellow paints based on organic dyes - schishgel and rauschgelb (rashgil) - were replaced by synthesized mineral paints based on chromium (the first chrome appeared in 1797) and cadmium, the production of which began in 1817 and expanded throughout range of shades in 1829.... And again, at best, the 18th century, but rather the beginning of the 19th century - the beginning of industrial production!
There were no colorful old maps, paintings, or paintings in “ancient” churches before the 18th century, and then most likely in the second half, when they learned to obtain temperatures above 900C and to burn limestone and other minerals - to obtain quicklime, to obtain oxides of cobalt, zinc, lead, that is, when real chemistry began. All this happened simultaneously with the technology of brick production and all other technologies that we all still use.

Serious study of cave dyes is just beginning. And questions immediately arise: why were only inorganic paints used? The primitive man-gatherer distinguished more than 200 different plants, among which were dyeing plants. Why are the drawings in some caves made in different tones of the same color, and in others - in two colors of the same tone? Why does it take so long to enter early painting colors of the green-blue-blue part of the spectrum? In the Paleolithic they are almost absent; in Egypt they appear 3.5 thousand years ago, and in Greece only in the 4th century. BC e. Archaeologist A. Formozov believes that our distant ancestors did not immediately understand the bright plumage " magic bird" - Earth. The most ancient colors, red and black, reflect the harsh coloring of the life of that time: the sun's disk on the horizon and the flame of a fire, the darkness of the night full of dangers and the darkness of the caves bringing relative peace. Red and black were associated with opposites ancient world: red - warmth, light, life with hot scarlet blood; black - cold, darkness, death... This symbolism is universal. It was a long way from the cave artist, who had only 4 colors in his palette, to the Egyptians and Sumerians, who added two more (blue and green) to them. But even further from them is the 20th century cosmonaut who took a set of 120 colored pencils on his first flights around the Earth.

The second group of questions that arise when studying cave painting, concerns drawing technology. The problem can be formulated as follows: did the animals depicted in the drawings of Paleolithic man “come out” of the wall or “go into” it?

In 1923, N. Casteret discovered a Late Paleolithic clay figure of a bear lying on the ground in the Montespan cave. It was covered with indentations - traces of dart strikes, and numerous prints of bare feet were found on the floor. A thought arose: this is a “model” that incorporates hunting pantomimes around the carcass of a dead bear, established over tens of thousands of years. Then the following series can be traced, confirmed by finds in other caves: a life-size model of a bear, dressed in its skin and decorated with a real skull, is replaced by its clay likeness; the animal gradually “gets to its feet” - it is leaned against the wall for stability (this is already a step towards creating a bas-relief); then the animal gradually “retracts” into it, leaving a drawn and then a pictorial outline... This is how archaeologist A. Solar imagines the emergence of Paleolithic painting.

Another way is no less likely. According to Leonardo da Vinci, the first drawing is the shadow of an object illuminated by a fire. Primitive begins to draw, mastering the “outlining” technique. The caves have preserved dozens of such examples. On the walls of the Gargas cave (France) 130 “ghost hands” are visible - human handprints on the wall. It is interesting that in some cases they are depicted with a line, in others - by filling in the external or internal contours (positive or negative stencil), then drawings appear, “torn off” from the object, which is no longer depicted in life-size, in profile or frontally. Sometimes objects are drawn as if in different projections (face and legs - profile, chest and shoulders - frontal). Skill gradually increases. The drawing acquires clarity and confidence of the stroke. Using the best drawings, biologists confidently determine not only the genus, but also the species, and sometimes the subspecies of an animal.

The Magdalenian artists take the next step: through painting they convey dynamics and perspective. Color helps a lot with this. The horses of the Grand Ben cave, full of life, seem to be running in front of us, gradually decreasing in size... Later this technique was forgotten, and similar drawings are not found in rock paintings either in the Mesolithic or Neolithic. The last step is the transition from a perspective image to a three-dimensional one. This is how sculptures appear, “emerging” from the walls of the cave.

Which of the above points of view is correct? A comparison of the absolute dating of figurines made of bones and stone indicates that they are approximately the same age: 30-15 thousand years BC. e. Maybe the cave artist took different paths in different places?

Another of the mysteries of cave painting is the lack of background and frame. Figures of horses, bulls, and mammoths are scattered freely along the rock wall. The drawings seem to hang in the air; not even a symbolic line of ground is drawn under them. On the uneven vaults of caves, animals are placed in the most unexpected positions: upside down or sideways. No in drawings of primitive man and a hint of the landscape background. Only in the 17th century. n. e. in Holland the landscape is designed into a special genre.

The study of Paleolithic painting provides specialists with abundant material for searching for the origins of various styles and trends in modern art. For example, a prehistoric master, 12 thousand years before the advent of pointillist artists, depicted animals on the wall of the Marsoula cave (France) using tiny colored dots. The number of similar examples can be multiplied, but something else is more important: the images on the walls of caves are a fusion of the reality of existence and its reflection in the brain of Paleolithic man. Thus, Paleolithic painting carries information about the level of thinking of a person of that time, about the problems that he lived with and that worried him. Primitive art, discovered more than 100 years ago, remains a real Eldorado for all kinds of hypotheses on this matter.

Dublyansky V.N., popular science book

It's hard to imagine modern world without the use of paints. It is used in everyday life and industrial purposes, painting entire structures and placing warning markings. Mankind's use of paint in various ways different areas its activities are rooted in the deep layers of history.

Scientists and archaeologists have found numerous drawings and rock paintings in various parts of the globe. The fact of using coloring pigments during various rituals has also been proven. Ancient burials have been repeatedly found, the age of which is about 20-40 thousand years BC. The bottom of the grave and the remains are completely covered with red ocher. Similar graves were found in Ukraine and Karelia.

In addition, scientists found parts of a house that burned down in 1240. Among the items found were boards for writing icons, containers with paints and other icon painter's utensils. Already in those days, icon painting workshops flourished, which was confirmed by similar finds on the territory of Novgorod.

How were paints created in Rus'?

The history of the creation of paints in Rus' is a deep study. Many of the dyes were used to dye woven material and yarn. Mostly natural ingredients were used: saffron, woad, madder, chermes, turmeric, buckthorn. Each plant gave its own unique shade. By mixing several colors, it was possible to vary the intensity of the shade and obtain new unusual tones. In the 19th century, a way to extract yellow shades was found - a decoction of alder, birch and ash was used for this. Ledum was used to produce green paint. And by the end of this century, the palette of colors was replenished with synthetic components. Most often they were used to give new colors to materials; indigo, chrysamine, red blood salt, aniline pigments, cadmium yellow, ultramarine and other dyes were used.

Paints of various shades of natural origin were widely used for painting residential buildings, painting churches, carved decorations of various buildings, furniture and interior items. Artificially produced colors were used much less frequently. In the 19th century, mummy, red lead and verdigris were used to paint iron roofs. Houses were often whitewashed in the spring with a mixture of chalk and lime. In the military sphere, wooden knives and leather parts of weapons were often painted.

The paper industry was not far behind. A wide range of coloring materials have been developed for coloring paper. At the end of the 18th century, paints created according to a special recipe began to be used when printing paper bills. The composition was kept in the strictest confidence and was entrusted only to a few people. There was even such a profession as a paper dyer.

Currently, the range of paints is amazing. Its use has reached industrial scale. Agree, it is impossible to imagine the modern world without this important invention.

Decorating interior spaces with painting became very popular during the Hellenistic period. Some artists, according to the testimony of some writers of antiquity (for example, Pliny), continued to use only four colors: white, black, red and yellow. At the same time, other writers refuted this statement, and this is more likely after scientists studied the remains of the paintings. Theophrastus and Vitruvius in their works described artists who were innovators in the field of expanding the range of colors used in painting. Historians find information about paints and the materials from which they were made in the works of Theophrastus, Vitruvius, Pliny and Dioscorides. The written evidence is now confirmed by the study of wall paintings in Pompeii. Thus, scientists know the natural and artificial colors that the ancient Greeks used for fresco painting.

White paint made from chalk mixed with gypsum and crushed white glass. Paretonia paint, mined in the Egyptian mine of the same name, was also used. Paretonium consisted of sea foam and mud, today it is assumed that it was calcium oxide hydrate. It was great for priming and creating murals.

Yellow paint the Greeks mined from deposits in a variety of areas ancient world. To obtain yellow In their paintings, the Hellenes used mainly ocher of various shades. Ocher mined in the Lavriysky mines was considered one of the best.

Black paint in almost all cases it was combustion products: burnt bones, scorched resins, vines, resinous chips. The coals remaining from the burned materials were cooled and ground in mortars, mixed with glue. If it was necessary to paint a large area of ​​a fresco black, the Greeks used the following technique: the required part of the wall was covered with ordinary plaster, first mixed with ash and crushed coal.

Varieties of red paints The ancient Hellenes had a lot: red chalk, sandarac, cinnabar, sandix, Syrian red paint, crimson, “dragon’s blood.” Red chalk was a natural and man-made material. In its natural form, this paint was mined in Cappadocia (Sinopian land), from where it was delivered by ship to Greece. There were also red chalk mines in Spain, Africa and Lemnos. They learned to produce such paint artificially by burning yellow ocher in clay vessels. Sandarak was mined in the mines of Paphlagonia, which was very harmful to the health of the miners. High mortality among workers led to temporary downtime of mines due to a lack of labor. Today it is suggested that sandarac was red arsenic.

Artificially create art material They also learned by firing white lead in clay vessels. Cinnabar mines were located in Spain, Carminia, Ethiopia and Colchis. Pliny described that when extracting this material, workers wore bubbles and protective masks on their heads so as not to inhale harmful fumes.

Theophrastus described in detail the process of making artificial cinnabar. Red sand was used as the base. When it was removed from the mines, mercury was released. Lumps of cinnabar were thrown into the oven, calcined, cooled, pounded in mortars, washed, calcined to remove dirt. Sandix red dye was mined in India, Armenia and Libya. Ancient writers pointed out that the Greeks knew how to artificially create this paint by mixing burnt sandarac with red chalk. Syrian paint was made by mixing sandix with Sinope soil.

Pliny wrote about the method of obtaining crimson: chalk of a certain type was dipped into a vessel where the wool was dyed purple. The chalk absorbed the purple and became crimson. The red dye, known in ancient times as "dragon's blood", was obtained from tree sap, which was mined on the island of Socotor in Africa. Modern research red paints on Hellenic frescoes show that red paint is iron oxide, red iron ocher, cinnabar, red lead, and less often - red ocher mixed with copper blue.

New products in the field of artistic design of paints from the ancient Greeks - green and blue paint . Green paint or chrysocolla was extracted from malachite and verdigris by pounding in a mortar. The crushed ore was mixed with water, ground in a mortar and filtered. This process was repeated several times until the mass became clear. Afterwards it was dried in the sun. Green chalk was also mined in Smyrna and Cyrene.

Verdigris was used to produce green paint as follows. Copper was added to the yeast by scraping off any rust that appeared, or by placing grapevines in barrels, pouring vinegar over them, and covering them with a copper sheet on top. After some time, the barrels were opened and ready verdigris was found in them. Today's studies of green paints clearly show their composition: verdigris was not found, the base consists of chalk, less often - of copper oxide with an admixture of green compounds of honey and chalk.

blue paint The ancient Greeks called it azure. Hellenic experts distinguished three types of azure: Scythian, Egyptian and Cypriot. Cypriot blue was produced in Alexandria by grinding sand with saltpeter color, pouring copper filings on top, then rolling the mass into pellets and drying. The pellets were then placed in clay vessels and fired in a kiln. Having studied the manufacturing process, modern scientists suggest that the Cypriot blue was copper blue. Egyptian blue was made from blue glass colored with copper oxide. Scythian blue most likely corresponded to our ultramarine. It was produced from lapis lazuli mined in Badakhshan. The ancient Greeks also knew indigo dye. Information about it is found in Vitruvius.