Following the tradition of the Italian Masters in the Renaissance,
ground glass is mixed in with my last few coats of varnish. This
enhances the vibrancy of the colour when a direct beam of light
is focused on the painting. This fine ground glass imported from
Germany, is of the highest optical grade quality to be found in
the most advanced astronomical telescopes and medical imagery
allowing 97.8% clarity.
Those molecular sized particles act like a "prism" whereby the
light is refracted. This may have more to do with photons and
the physics of light than art, but it makes for a spectacular effect
and protects the painting even more. In addition to glass i often
use clusters of silicon, oxygen, sodium, calcium and aluminum in
my oils.
This glass is used in both my oils and my acrylics and in all my
subject matter. Sometimes the glass is not used in the
background in order to create to create "negative space". In
addition, UV protection is included on all my paints.
ground glass is mixed in with my last few coats of varnish. This
enhances the vibrancy of the colour when a direct beam of light
is focused on the painting. This fine ground glass imported from
Germany, is of the highest optical grade quality to be found in
the most advanced astronomical telescopes and medical imagery
allowing 97.8% clarity.
Those molecular sized particles act like a "prism" whereby the
light is refracted. This may have more to do with photons and
the physics of light than art, but it makes for a spectacular effect
and protects the painting even more. In addition to glass i often
use clusters of silicon, oxygen, sodium, calcium and aluminum in
my oils.
This glass is used in both my oils and my acrylics and in all my
subject matter. Sometimes the glass is not used in the
background in order to create to create "negative space". In
addition, UV protection is included on all my paints.
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Using Glass in my paints.
Renaissance Artists Added Glass to Paint
By Carl Hartman, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) Dec. 2004
How did paintings by Tintoretto and other Venetian Renaissance
artists get their special glow? Using an electron microscope,
Barbara Berrie, senior conservation scientist at the National
Gallery of Art, discovered one of their secrets: tiny bits of glass
the artists mixed with their pigments.
"By looking beyond the limits of their usual practice and
transforming materials from other trades to their painting, the
great artists of the Renaissance created a palette that gave them
an immediate and lasting reputation as brilliant colorists,'' Berrie
said.
By Carl Hartman, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) Dec. 2004
How did paintings by Tintoretto and other Venetian Renaissance
artists get their special glow? Using an electron microscope,
Barbara Berrie, senior conservation scientist at the National
Gallery of Art, discovered one of their secrets: tiny bits of glass
the artists mixed with their pigments.
"By looking beyond the limits of their usual practice and
transforming materials from other trades to their painting, the
great artists of the Renaissance created a palette that gave them
an immediate and lasting reputation as brilliant colorists,'' Berrie
said.
Lorenzo Lotto's Saint Catherine.
Babara Berrie, senior conservation scientist at the
National Gallery of Art, used an electron microscope
found rounded bits of powdered glass, only
thousandths of an inch thick, in the red gown worn by
St. Catherine. (AP Photo/National Gallery of Art)
Babara Berrie, senior conservation scientist at the
National Gallery of Art, used an electron microscope
found rounded bits of powdered glass, only
thousandths of an inch thick, in the red gown worn by
St. Catherine. (AP Photo/National Gallery of Art)
It was long thought that Venetian painters, glassmakers and ceramic designers each had their own ways of concocting paints and
dyes, probably getting the ingredients through apothecaries, as in most of Europe.
But Louisa Matthew, head of the Visual Arts Departments at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., found evidence that Venice
developed a special market for dyes and pigments a century before other European areas did.
She was poring through the Venetian archives for information on how local artists did business. Among the dusty wills and tax
records, she came upon an inventory of 102 items drawn up after the death of shop owner Domenico de Gardignano. He is
identified in Italian as "dai colori'' -- "among the men in the color business.''
"There are certain pigments that contain glass mentioned in the 1534 inventory, but by no means all,'' Matthew said. "Because
(customers) were all buying colorants in the same place, we hypothesize that they traded ideas and ingredients including
materials not on the shelf.''
People from many different trades bought supplies at de Gardignano's shop and were likely to have shared both ideas and
materials, Matthew surmised.
That possibility led to Berrie's examination of paint samples under an electronic microscope. She discovered rounded bits of
powdered glass, only thousandths of an inch thick, in two paintings by Lorenzo Lotto -- one in a red gown worn by St. Catherine,
another in an orange-red coat worn by Joseph in a Nativity scene.
Glass was also discovered in a yellow pigment used in a Tintoretto painting of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee.
"They're also teaching me a lesson: to try to go beyond the bounds of what I know and what I think is right,'' Berrie said. "It's a
good trick for an old artist to teach a new scientist something.''
dyes, probably getting the ingredients through apothecaries, as in most of Europe.
But Louisa Matthew, head of the Visual Arts Departments at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., found evidence that Venice
developed a special market for dyes and pigments a century before other European areas did.
She was poring through the Venetian archives for information on how local artists did business. Among the dusty wills and tax
records, she came upon an inventory of 102 items drawn up after the death of shop owner Domenico de Gardignano. He is
identified in Italian as "dai colori'' -- "among the men in the color business.''
"There are certain pigments that contain glass mentioned in the 1534 inventory, but by no means all,'' Matthew said. "Because
(customers) were all buying colorants in the same place, we hypothesize that they traded ideas and ingredients including
materials not on the shelf.''
People from many different trades bought supplies at de Gardignano's shop and were likely to have shared both ideas and
materials, Matthew surmised.
That possibility led to Berrie's examination of paint samples under an electronic microscope. She discovered rounded bits of
powdered glass, only thousandths of an inch thick, in two paintings by Lorenzo Lotto -- one in a red gown worn by St. Catherine,
another in an orange-red coat worn by Joseph in a Nativity scene.
Glass was also discovered in a yellow pigment used in a Tintoretto painting of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee.
"They're also teaching me a lesson: to try to go beyond the bounds of what I know and what I think is right,'' Berrie said. "It's a
good trick for an old artist to teach a new scientist something.''
Studio Q & A