Terra verde

Anthony D. Ayers <raphaelmad<-a t->aol< . >com> writes

>I have been attempting to determine a terminus date for the usage of
>terra verde in flesh tones of paintings,

Since this pigment remains in use it is difficult to write an
end-point for any particular usage.

However, I looked through a few of my reference books and an
interesting thing came to light.  Dr. Joseph Bersch, The Manufacture
of Earth Colors (1921) identifies the color as one which occurs
often in Italy; Max Doerner, The Materials of the Artist (1934, et.
seq.) mentions that it was used in early Italian painting as a flesh
tone.  V.& R. Borradaile, The Strasburg Manuscript (purportedly a
15th c. German illuminator's manual) does not mention terra verde
when discussing flesh tones.

This suggests that it may be more useful to consider the pigment in
geographic terms rather than temporal terms. Good luck,

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Laboratory
7549 N. Fenwick
Portland, OR  97217
503-735-3942

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:76
                Distributed: Thursday, February 27, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-76-004
                                  ***