The Painter's Colors
Titian
Venus and Adonis
about 1555–60
Oil on canvas, 160 × 196.5 cm. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Both kinds of red sit side by side: vermilion in Adonis's orange-red sleeve, a red lake in his pinker tunic and in the cloth over Venus's seat.
- The lake contains textile fibers. It was probably made from clippings of red-dyed cloth.
- Tests matched the dye to cochineal, with some madder-type colorant too.
Concepts
Image: Getty Open Content (via Wikimedia Commons) · Public domain (PD-Art)