The Venetian Palette of the Renaissance: The Material Aspect of Colour Perception

Abstract

This article is devoted to the examination of practice underlying the interaction with painting materials, which determined the richness of colour typical of the Venetian painting of the Renaissance. The purpose of this work is to identify the traditional areas of daily activities that shaped an increased interest of Venetian society in the richness and diversity of colour in art. Historical information about the craft, trade and everyday aspects of life of Venetian society were obtained thanks to the works of well-known modern historians and specialists in painting technology D. Bomford, B. Berry, L. Matthew, D. Yang, F. Mellis, and M. O’Melli. Creative contacts of Venetian painters with craftsmen actively influenced the search for new materials for painting. A significant role in this process was played by the development of the Venetian dyeing craft, as well as glassmaking. Additionally, the practice of daily work with paints spread in Venice to the sphere of trade, which had an impact on the colour preferences of great numbers of Venetian society. Venetian merchants, who travelled to the East to purchase expensive exotic goods, with painting and dyeing materials making a significant part of them, and ultramarine in the first place, had to understand their quality and colour characteristics. Close acquaintance with pigments for painting and their high cost caused a thorough discussion of the colouristic merits of the materials used in the contracts for the creation of paintings, which affected the quality of the painting palette. Venice was the only city in Italy where the trade and preparation of paints were not dealt with by pharmacists, but by people of a special profession, the so-called vendecolori . The study allows the author to state that Venetian colourism relied, on the one hand, on the variety of types of work with painting materials, and on the other, on the ability to experiment, characteristic of the outstanding representatives of the Venetian art school.