Sources

Image credits

The diagrams were made for this site. The historic plates and the artworks are public domain or openly licensed; each entry links to the file's record with its source and license.

Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Lump of Blue Paste (Egyptian blue) (ca. 1473–1458 BCE)
File: File:Lump of Blue Paste MET LC-36 3 202 EGDP025874.jpg
CC0 · Author/source field: Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18

Diagram: the first palettes
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Diagram: price of ultramarine and azurite
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

John Rand, US Patent 2,252, Improvement in the Construction of Vessels or Apparatus for Preserving Paint, &c. (1841): drawing sheet, Metal Rolls for Paint, figs. 1–5
File: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/34/bd/5c/b1ff3f79537751/US2252-drawings-page-1.png
Public domain · Author/source field: John Rand

Diagram: blue pigments by date
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Diagram: white pigments
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669)
File: File:Rembrandt, Self Portrait at the Age of 63.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Rembrandt van Rijn

Diagram: black pigments
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Édouard Manet, Music in the Tuileries Gardens (1862)
File: File:Édouard Manet - Music in the Tuileries Gardens.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Édouard Manet

Diagram: earth pigments
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait (1659)
File: File:Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait, 1659, NGA 79.jpg
CC0 · Author/source field: Rembrandt van Rijn

Diagram: red pigments
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Titian, Venus and Adonis (about 1555–60)
File: File:TizianoVenereAdoneMalibu.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Titian

Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring (about 1665)
File: File:1665 Girl with a Pearl Earring.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Johannes Vermeer

Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) (ca. 1830–32)
File: File:Tsunami by hokusai 19th century.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Katsushika Hokusai

Diagram: green pigments
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Paolo Uccello, The Battle of San Romano (probably about 1438–40)
File: File:San Romano Battle (Paolo Uccello, London) 01.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Paolo Uccello

Diagram: yellow pigments
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers (1888)
File: File:Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers (1888, National Gallery London).jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Vincent van Gogh

Diagram: one pigment in four binders
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Diagram: egg tempera
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Giotto, Madonna and Child (c. 1310/1315)
File: File:Giotto, Madonna and Child, c. 1310-1315, NGA 397.jpg
CC0 · Author/source field: Giotto

Diagram: fresco and secco
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Spanish (Castile), Lion, from the Chapter House of San Pedro de Arlanza (after 1200)
File: File:Lion MET DP102890.jpg
CC0 · Author/source field: Spanish (Castile)

Jan van der Straet (Stradanus), designer; Jan Collaert I, engraver; Philips Galle, publisher, Nova Reperta (about 1600): plate 14, The Invention of Oil Painting (Color Olivi)
File: https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/dp/original/DP841119.jpg
Public domain (CC0) · Author/source field: Jan Collaert I after Jan van der Straet (Stradanus)

Rogier van der Weyden, The Magdalen Reading (about 1435)
File: File:The Magdalen Reading - Rogier van der Weyden.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Rogier van der Weyden

Diagram: watercolor and gouache
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Winslow Homer, The Return, Tynemouth (recto) (1881)
File: 680ed8b4-795a-4cab-a0c0-d27d5a235895
CC0 · Author/source field: Winslow Homer

Diagram: pastel
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Jean-Étienne Liotard, Portrait of Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven Years of Age (1755–56)
File: File:Jean-Étienne Liotard - Portrait of Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven Years of Age.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Jean-Étienne Liotard

Diagram: encaustic
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Roman Egypt, Portrait of a young woman in red (A.D. 90–120)
File: File:Portrait of a young woman in red MET 29I E15R6.jpg
CC0 · Author/source field: Roman Egypt

Diagram: layers of a panel painting
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Diagram: wood panels
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady (c. 1460)
File: File:Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, c. 1460, NGA 51.jpg
CC0 · Author/source field: Rogier van der Weyden

Diderot and d'Alembert, eds., Encyclopédie, Recueil de planches, vol. 8 (1771): Peinture, Pl. IV (Grand Chevalet, Châssis &c.), fig. 2, canvas stretched on a common stretcher; detail
File: https://archive.org/download/Recueildeplanch8Dide/page/n340.jpg
Public domain · Author/source field: Bourgeois (drawing) and Robert Bénard (engraving)

Titian, The Vendramin Family, venerating a Relic of the True Cross (about 1540–45)
File: File:Titian and workshop - The Vendramin Family, venerating a Relic of the True Cross - Google Art Project.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Titian

Peter Paul Rubens, Samson and Delilah (about 1609–10)
File: File:Samson and Delilah by Rubens.jpg
Public domain (PD-Art) · Author/source field: Peter Paul Rubens

Diagram: how colors change
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Vincent van Gogh, The Bedroom (1889)
File: 6644829f-f292-c5c4-a73c-0356a6fdbf0d
CC0 · Author/source field: Vincent van Gogh

Diagram: varnish aging and cleaning
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art

Diagram: four ways to look beneath the surface
File: Original diagram
Original work · Author/source field: David Nicholson Art