Sources
Sources and further reading
The text of this course was compiled for general readers from the sources below. The ideas and facts come from them; the wording is new, and any quotations are credited where they appear.
Lectures
Becker, Hilary. “Pliny, Pigments, and Painters in the Ancient World.” Boshell Foundation Lecture, with discussion by Giovanni Verri and Katharine Raff, Art Institute of Chicago. YouTube video, 57:58. 2024. Link
Bucklow, Spike. “From Lapis to Ultramarine.” Online talk (Hamilton Kerr Institute, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge), Chemical and Physical Society, University College London. YouTube video, 48:22. December 1, 2020. Link
Drayman-Weisser, Terry, E. Melanie Gifford, and Chris McGlinchey. “Art as Evidence: Scientific Investigation of Works of Art.” Panel discussion, moderated by David Bomford, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles. YouTube video, 1:31:07. Recorded December 1, 2009. Link
Peggie, David. “Beneath the Surface: Examining Paintings at the National Gallery.” Lecture (Scientific Department, The National Gallery, London), Royal Society of Chemistry. YouTube video, 1:20:54. 2014. Link
Russell, Joanna. “The Story of Ultramarine from the Silk Road to Renoir: The Chemistry of Colour.” Gallery video (Scientific Department), The National Gallery, London. YouTube video, 8:05. 2024. Link
Curricula
Boxall, Deborah. “Elements, Compounds, and Pigments.” Lesson plan, NCMALearn, North Carolina Museum of Art. Link
Massachusetts College of Art and Design. “2DPA276 Materials & Methods.” Course listing, Colleges of the Fenway cross-registration. Link
Stephenson, Jonathan. The Materials and Techniques of Painting. London: Thames and Hudson, c1989. Table of contents, Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) library catalogue. Link
University of Georgia. “ARST 4170/6170 Contemporary Applications of Historic Painting Materials.” Course description, UGA Bulletin. Link
Conservation and reference sources
AAAS. “Science: Early Ochre Workshop Represents Critical Point in Human Evolution.” News release, October 13, 2011. On Henshilwood et al., Science 334 (2011). Link
Alfeld et al. “A Mobile Instrument for in Situ Scanning Macro-XRF Investigation of Historical Paintings.” Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry (2013). Link
The Art Institute of Chicago. Behind-the-scenes page, Winslow Homer watercolors conservation study (archive). Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The Art Institute of Chicago. Resource 641, Winslow Homer watercolors conservation study (archive). Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. “Hello from the Getty Conservation Institute: Paint Layers.” Article. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Banas, Emily. “Object Lesson: Deceptive Décor: Uncovering Arsenic in 18th- and 19th-Century Wallpapers.” Manual, issue 15 (Green). RISD Museum. Link
Billinge, Campbell, Dunkerton, Foister, Kirby, Pilc, Roy, Spring, and White. “The Materials and Technique of Five Paintings by Rogier van der Weyden and His Workshop.” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 18 (1997): 68–86. Link
Birkmaier, Wallert, and Rothe. “Technical Examinations of Titian's Venus and Adonis: A Note on Early Italian Oil Painting Technique.” In Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice, 117–26. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, 1995. Link
Carpenter, John. “Hokusai's Iconic ‘Great Wave’.” Article, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Édouard Manet, Music in the Tuileries Gardens. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Giotto, Madonna and Child. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Rembrandt, Self Portrait at the Age of 63 (National Gallery, London). Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1659 (National Gallery of Art). Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Rogier van der Weyden, The Magdalen Reading. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Titian, Venus and Adonis. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Painting entry: Vincent van Gogh, Bedroom in Arles. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: artificial ultramarine. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: azurite. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: bone black. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: burnt sienna. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: cadmium yellow. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: carmine (cochineal). Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: carmine (kermes). Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: cerulean blue. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: chrome yellow. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: cobalt blue. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: cobalt violet. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: Egyptian blue. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: emerald green. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: green earth. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: lampblack. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: lead white. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: lead-tin yellow. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: madder lake. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: malachite. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: manganese violet. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: Naples yellow. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: natural ultramarine. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: orpiment. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: Prussian blue. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: raw sienna. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: red lead. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: smalt. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: titanium dioxide white. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: Tyrian purple. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: umber. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: verdigris. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: vermilion. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: vine black. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: viridian. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: yellow ochre. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ColourLex. Pigment entry: zinc white. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. “Cochineal.” Large-print exhibition text, Nature by Design. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). News report on the Bamiyan oil paintings, 2008. On Cotte, Taniguchi et al., Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry (2008). Link
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). “Van Gogh Paintings Lose Their Shine.” News report, 2011. On Monico, Janssens et al., Analytical Chemistry (2011). Link
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. “Ultramarine.” Illuminated, lab: overview of artists' materials. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Getty Conservation Institute. Panel Paintings Initiative. Program page. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Gordon and Avery-Quash. “The Battle of San Romano.” Catalogue entry, The National Gallery, London, 2003. Link
Hamilton Kerr Institute, Fitzwilliam Museum. Blog post on a student reconstruction of a fourteenth-century Madonna and Child. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Hamilton Kerr Institute, Fitzwilliam Museum. Blog post on student copies of early Italian panels. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Hand and Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1986. Entry on Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, 241–43, and Appendix I (Peter Klein, dendrochronology). Link
Hendriks, Jansen, Salvant, Ravaud, Eveno, Menu, Fiedler, Geldof, Megens, van Bommel, Johnson, and Johnson. “A Comparative Study of Vincent van Gogh's Bedroom Series.” In National Gallery Technical Bulletin 30th Anniversary Conference Postprints, 237–43. London, 2011. Link
Hoeniger, Cathleen. “The Identification of Blue Pigments in Early Sienese Paintings by Color Infrared Photography.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 30, no. 2 (1991): 115–24. Link
Italian Art Society. “On 20 September 1374 Painter Antonio Veneziano Registered with the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in Florence.” 2014. Citing Grove Art Online. Link
J. Paul Getty Trust. “New Directions for Research on Ancient Romano-Egyptian Panel Paintings.” Getty News. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
J. Paul Getty Trust. “Pastel.” Cataloging example, Categories for the Description of Works of Art. Getty Publications. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Jeffares, Neil. “Pastels, Portraits, and Paramours.” Getty News & Stories, October 20, 2015. Link
Jones, Susan. “Painting in Oil in the Low Countries and Its Spread to Southern Europe.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002. Link
Katlan, Alexander. “The American Artist's Tools and Materials for On-Site Oil Sketching.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 38, no. 1 (1999): 21–32. Link
Kovalev, I., A. Rodler, C. Brøns, and Th. Rehren. “Making and Working Egyptian Blue – A Review of the Archaeological Evidence.” Journal of Archaeological Science 153 (2023): 105772. Accepted manuscript. Link
Kraft, Alexander. “Wege des Wissens: Berliner Blau, 1706–1726.” Mitteilungen, GDCh-Fachgruppe Geschichte der Chemie 22 (2012). Link
Leona, Marco. “Hokusai's Great Wave.” Essay, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 10, 2020. Link
Linda Hall Library. “Scientist of the Day: John Goffe Rand.” Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Mahon, Centeno, Hill, Hale, Smieska, Granzotto, Arslanoglu, and Serotta. “Exploring Artistic Practice in Roman Egypt: A Study of Nine Portraits at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” In Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt (APPEAR project). Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. Link
McFarland, Margo R. “The Whitening Effects of Peroxide Gels on Darkened Lead White Paint.” Book and Paper Group Annual 16 (American Institute for Conservation, 1997). Link
Medievalists.net. “Why Some Greens Turn Brown in Historical Paintings.” October 9, 2019. Reporting Gourier et al., “Photochemical Origin of the Darkening of Copper Acetate and Resinate Pigments in Historical Paintings,” Inorganic Chemistry (2019). Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. Exhibition page, 2000. Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Materials and Techniques: Pastel.” Perspectives. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Materials and Techniques: Watercolor.” Perspectives. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Ministère de la Culture. “Raw Materials.” Lascaux. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Montes Santiago, J. “Goya, Fortuny, Van Gogh, Portinari: Lead Poisoning in Painters across Three Centuries.” Revista Clínica Española 206, no. 1 (2006): 30–32. Link
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. CAMEO entry: cadmium yellow. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. CAMEO entry: English vermilion. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. CAMEO entry: lampblack. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. CAMEO entry: lead white. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. CAMEO entry: titanium white. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
National Gallery of Art, Washington. “Madonna and Child, c. 1310/1315.” Systematic catalogue entry (Giotto), Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Online edition. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
National Gallery of Art, Washington. “Self-Portrait, 1659.” Catalogue entry (Rembrandt van Rijn), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. Online edition. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
National Gallery of Art, Washington. Technical Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
National Gallery of Art, Washington. “Varnishes for Paintings.” Conservation Science. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Binder.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Bole.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Canvas.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Fresco.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Gesso.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Ground.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Media.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Methods.” In Vermeer and Technique. Online publication. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Panel Painting.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Rembrandt: The Late Works: A Resource for Science Teachers.” Learning resource, page on smalt. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Technical Analysis.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Tempera.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Van Eyck's Handling of Oil Paint.” In The Restoration of Margaret, the Artist's Wife. Research paper. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Varnish.” Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Vincent Van Gogh: Chrome Yellow.” Story on Google Arts & Culture. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Nisse, Cleo. Research report. Center 43, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Link
North Carolina Museum of Art. “Alizarin.” NCMALearn. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
“Out of the Blue: Vermeer's Use of Ultramarine in Girl with a Pearl Earring.” Heritage Science (2020). Open access, doi:10.1186/s40494-020-00364-5. Link
Palladino, N., et al. “An Analytical Survey of Zinc White Historical and Modern Artists' Materials.” Heritage Science 12, art. 47 (2024). Link
Penny, Nicholas. “The Vendramin Family.” Catalogue entry, The National Gallery, London, 2008. Link
Phys.org. Report on early fresco technique, January 2023. On Yamaguchi et al., Ceramics International (2021). Link
Plesters, Joyce. “‘Samson and Delilah’: Rubens and the Art and Craft of Painting on Panel.” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 7 (1983): 30–49. Link
RKD Studies. “Common Ground Types in the Netherlands 1500–1650.” Section 1.1 of Down to the Ground. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
RKD Studies. “The History of X-radiographs in the Study of Paintings.” Section 2.1 of Counting Vermeer. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Royal Society of Chemistry, Education. “What Pigments Were Used for Cave Painting and Where Did They Come From?” Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Science News. Article on the Art Institute of Chicago's research into Van Gogh's The Bedroom (Casadio; digital recoloring by Berns and Cox, Rochester Institute of Technology). Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
ScienceDaily. News release (American Chemical Society), October 2, 2019. On Alter et al., Inorganic Chemistry (2019), doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.9b02007. Link
Serotta, Seibert, and Stünkel. “Paint Like an Egyptian.” Perspectives, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 20, 2020. Link
Shelley, Marjorie. “The Rise of Pastel in the Eighteenth Century.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. Link
Smarthistory. Introduction to the Northern Renaissance. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Spring, Marika, Catherine Higgitt, and David Saunders. “Investigation of Pigment-Medium Interaction Processes in Oil Paint Containing Degraded Smalt.” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 26 (2005): 56–70. Link
Stols-Witlox and Kolfin. “The Hidden Revolution of Colored Grounds: An Introduction.” Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 17, no. 2 (2025). Link
Tate. “Fresco.” Art Term. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Tate. “Oil Paint.” Art Term. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Townsend, Joyce H. “The Materials Used by British Oil Painters in the Nineteenth Century.” Tate Papers 2 (2004). Link
University of Delaware, Art Conservation Program. “Historical Materials/Techniques.” Art Conservation Resources. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
US Food and Drug Administration. “FDA Approves First New Drug Application for Treatment of Radiation Contamination Due to Cesium or Thallium.” 2003. Link
Vermeulen, M., et al. “Beyond the Connoisseurship Approach: Creating a Chronology in Hokusai Prints Using Non-invasive Techniques and Multivariate Data Analysis.” Heritage Science 8, art. 62 (2020). Link
Visit Gent. “Myth-busting: 3 Persistent Fallacies about the Ghent Altarpiece.” City tourism blog. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Winterthur Museum. “Materials and Scientific Analysis.” In Lasting Impressions. Online exhibition. Accessed October 30, 2026. Link
Museum collection records
The Art Institute of Chicago. “The Bedroom” (1889), Vincent van Gogh. Collection record, 1926.417. Link
The Art Institute of Chicago. “The Return, Tynemouth (recto)” (1881), Winslow Homer. Collection record, 1933.1251. Link
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. “Portrait of Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven Years of Age” (1755–56), Jean-Étienne Liotard. Collection record, 83.PC.273. Link
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. “Venus and Adonis” (about 1555–60), Titian. Collection record, 92.PA.42. Link
Mauritshuis, The Hague. “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (about 1665), Johannes Vermeer. Inventory 670; Mauritshuis record data on Europeana (Public Domain Mark). Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “Frescoes from the Villa Stati-Mattei” (villa about 1520), Baldassarre Peruzzi. Collection record, 48.17.1–22. Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “Lion, from the Chapter House of San Pedro de Arlanza” (after 1200), Spanish (Castile). Collection record, The Cloisters Collection, 31.38.1a, b. Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “Lump of Blue Paste” (ca. 1473–1458 BCE), Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (Tomb of Senenmut, TT 71). Collection record, 36.3.202. Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “New Inventions of Modern Times [Nova Reperta], The Invention of Oil Painting, plate 14” (ca. 1600), Jan Collaert I after Jan van der Straet (Stradanus), published by Philips Galle. Collection record, 49.95.870(5). Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “Portrait of a young woman in red” (90–120 CE), Roman Egypt. Collection record, 09.181.6. Link
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave), from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” (ca. 1830–32), Katsushika Hokusai. Collection record, JP1847. Link
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona. “Paintings from Arlanza” (first quarter of the 13th century), anonymous, Castile. Collection record, 040142-CJT. Link
National Gallery of Art, Washington. “Madonna and Child” (c. 1310/1315), Giotto. Collection record, 1939.1.256. Link
National Gallery of Art, Washington. “Portrait of a Lady” (c. 1460), Rogier van der Weyden. Collection record, 1937.1.44. Link
National Gallery of Art, Washington. “Self-Portrait” (1659), Rembrandt van Rijn. Collection record, 1937.1.72. Link
The National Gallery, London. “The Battle of San Romano” (probably about 1438–40), Paolo Uccello. Collection record, NG583. Link
The National Gallery, London. “The Magdalen Reading” (about 1435), Rogier van der Weyden. Collection record, NG654. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Music in the Tuileries Gardens” (1862), Édouard Manet. Collection record, NG3260. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Samson and Delilah” (about 1609–10), Peter Paul Rubens. Collection record, NG6461. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Self Portrait at the Age of 63” (1669), Rembrandt van Rijn. Collection record, NG221. Link
The National Gallery, London. “Sunflowers” (1888), Vincent van Gogh. Linked-data record, NG3863. Link
The National Gallery, London. “The Vendramin Family” (about 1540–45), Titian. Collection record, NG4452. Link
Public-domain texts
Cennini, Cennino. The Book of the Art of Cennino Cennini. Translated by Christiana J. Herringham. London: George Allen, 1899. Text read from the 1922 second impression (Allen & Unwin), Internet Archive. Link
Diderot, Denis, and Jean le Rond d'Alembert, eds. Recueil de planches, sur les sciences, les arts libéraux, et les arts méchaniques. Vol. 8. Paris: Briasson, David, Le Breton, Durand, 1771. “Peintures en huile, en miniature et encaustique,” Pl. IV. Internet Archive (Smithsonian Libraries). Link
Pliny the Elder. The Natural History of Pliny. Vol. 6. Translated by John Bostock and H. T. Riley. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1857. Project Gutenberg. Link
Rand, John. “Improvement in the Construction of Vessels or Apparatus for Preserving Paint, &c.” US Patent 2,252, September 11, 1841. Google Patents. Link