A yellow dye for producing artists' pigments frequently mentioned in the Dutch sources of the seventeenth century was schijtgeel. Schijtgeel is a collective name for organic, yellow dye stuffs gained from various dyeing plants, berries and woods. There existed different recipes for its production, for instance one from a collection of recipes by Willem Pekstok from Amsterdam, a producer and dealer of paint materials in the late seventeenth century, mentioning weld, yellow wood (probably from Old Fustic) and the berries from the Purgin resp. the Avignon buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus/Rhamnus infectoria) for the production of schijtgeel. These dye stuffs, composed of several organic dyeing material, were available in different qualities, partially as pure lakes or adsorbed on chalk or lead white, and the artist decided primarily from the hue and the covering qualities which product to buy, certainly not from its substances.
Origin, History and Characteristics of Vivianite
Vivianite, named after the English mineralogist F. G. Vivian, is a rare mineral of secondary origin associated with pyrite in copper and tin veins, and is a hydrated iron phosphate of a blue to green color. Vivianite has rarely been found on European easel paintings, but it has been identified in medieval paintings in Germany and in English medieval polychromy. The School of Cologne used it to depict skies in the thirteenth and fourteenth century.
Vivianite is found principally in two environments: In the oxidized upper layers of ore deposits, where it may appear as dark indigo, blue-black, or green crystals. It is also found in organic rich environments often lining the inside of ancient mollusk shells, but sometimes associated with bones, decaying wood and other organic material. Mineral from the latter environment is sometimes collected for use as pigment, but in practice it is more frequently gathered from ore deposits, such as peat bogs and marshy-lakes. Extracting soft, friable vivianite concretions from viscous, dense clayey soil is time-consuming. Once obtained it is necessary to thoroughly wash it to remove clay and organic residue from each grain of vivianite. The labor expended in this operation is rewarded by a high-quality end product. Vivianite is generally stable and dark blue or green in color, though the mineral may be colorless when first exposed. This color transformation is a special feature of vivianite found in peat bogs.
LOOKING OVER VERMEER'S SHOULDER
The complete book about Johannes Vermeer's and 17th-century fine-painting techniques and materials
by Jonathan Janson | 2020
Enhanced by the author's dual expertise as both a seasoned painter and a renowned authority on Vermeer, Looking Over Vermeer's Shoulder offers an in-depth exploration of the artistic techniques and practices that elevated Vermeer to legendary status in the art world. The book meticulously delves into every aspect of 17th-century painting, from the initial canvas preparation to the details of underdrawing, underpainting, finishing touches, and glazing, as well as nuances in palette, brushwork, pigments, and compositional strategy. All of these facets are articulated in an accessible and lucid manner.
Furthermore, the book examines Vermeer's unique approach to various artistic elements and studio practices. These include his innovative use of the camera obscura, the intricacies of his studio setup, and his representation of his favorite motifs subjects, such as wall maps, floor tiles, and "pictures within pictures."
By observing closely the studio practices of Vermeer and his preeminent contemporaries, the reader will acquire a concrete understanding of 17th-century painting methods and materials and gain a fresh view of Vermeer's 35 masterworks, which reveal a seamless unity of craft and poetry.
While the book is not structured as a step-by-step instructional guide, it serves as an invaluable resource for realist painters seeking to enhance their own craft. The technical insights offered are highly adaptable, offering a wealth of knowledge that can be applied to a broad range of figurative painting styles.
LOOKING OVER VERMEER'S SHOULDER author: Jonathan Janson date: 2020 (second edition) pages: 294 illustrations: 200-plus illustrations and diagrams formats: PDF $29.95
An Overview of Vermeer’s Technical & Stylistic Evolution
Fame, Originality & Subject Matte
Reality or Illusion: Did Vermeer’s Interiors ever Exist?
Color
Composition
Mimesi & Illusionism
Perspective
Camera Obscura Vision
Light & Modeling
Studio
Four Essential Motifs in Vermeer’s Oeuvre
Drapery
Painting Flesh
Canvas
Grounding
“Inventing,” or Underdrawing
“Dead-Coloring,” or Underpainting
“Working-up,” or Finishing
Glazing
Mediums, Binders & Varnishes
Paint Application & Consistency
Pigments, Paints & Palettes
Brushes & Brushwork
Schijtgeel and Vivianite in Vermeer's Painting
The recent restoration of Vermeer's Procuress (2002–2004) has revealed two new pigments which have been undetected as of yet, an organic yellow pigment and a rare blue one. The yellow pigment is an organic dye but not as a lake (with large quantities of aluminium), but with lead white as the substrate. An exact identification of the yellow-brown pigment was not possible to make with this sample. According to the publicationUta Neidhardt and Marlies Giebe, eds., Johannes Vermeer. Bei der Kupplerin (Dresden, 2004). Heike Stege, Cornelia Tilenschi, and Achim Unger, "Bekanntes und Unbekanntes. Neue Untersuchungen zur Palette Vermeers in der 'Kupplerin,'" 76–82, specifically 78. dedicated to the restoration in question, it is very likely that Vermeer himself didn't know the exact nature of his yellow pigment although it could be a fugitive pigment called schijtgeel.Perhaps painters chose their pigments according to the desired color rather than their supposed chemical make-up.
Another unexpected identification made during the mentioned restoration was that of a rare pigment, a mineral iron phosphate probably vivianite. It appears only in the upper paint layer of the gray-blue and green-gray areas of the carpet (fig. 1). The instable pigment has degraded making a hardly definable blue-gray-brown dominating significant parts of the carpet. Verifications of the use of vivianite in painting are not very numerous: in Europe mainly in the Middle Ages. More directly related to Vermeer's oeuvre is a recently published study by Marika Spring with the verification of vivianite in several paintings by the Dordrecht painter Aelbert Cuyp (1620–1691).Marika Spring, "Pigments and Colour Change in the Paintings of Aelbert Cuyp," in Aelbert Cuyp, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, 7 October 2001–13 January 2002, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Amsterdam; London, 2001–2002), 65–73. In a recent examination of a painting by Dou from 1646 (Alte Pinakothek München) a pigment rich of iron phosphate was detected in the green parts of the vegetation. Therefore, a frequent use of vivianite or other forms of iron phosphate in Dutch seventeenth-century painting seems more plausible now. Marika Spring supposes a bog iron ore in the peat bogs as a possible source for vivianite in the Netherlands.Marika Spring, "Pigments and Colour Change in the Paintings of Aelbert Cuyp," in Aelbert Cuyp, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, 7 October 2001–13 January 2002, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Amsterdam; London, 2001–2002), 66. The occurrence of vivianite as a pigment is sufficiently rare to provide information on dating and provenance.
The detail above shows a part of the foreground carpet in Vermeer's Procuress which contains the rare blue pigment vivianite which has faded into a dull grayish green.
† FOOTNOTES †
Comprehensive Resources on Vermeer's Painting Techniques
BOON, J. and OBERTHALER, E., "Mechanical Weakness and Chemical Reactivity Observed in the Paint Structure and Surface of 'The Art of Painting'" in Vermeer: Die Malkunst - Spurensicherung an einem Meisterwerk, exh. cat., Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 2010, 235–53 and 328–35.
COSTARAS, Nicola. "A Study of the Materials and Techniques of Johannes Vermeer." In Vermeer Studies, edited by Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker, Studies in the History of Art 55, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Symposium Papers XXXIII. Washington: National Gallery of Art & New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998, 145–167.
DELANEY, John K., Kathryn A. Dooley, Annelies van Loon, and Abbie Vandivere. "Mapping the Pigment Distribution of Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'." Heritage Science 8, no. 4 (January 7, 2020). Accessed May 2, 2022.
EASTAUGH, Nicholas, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin and Ruth Siddall. The Pigment Compendium 2017. Rev. ed. (e-version). London: The Pigmentum Project, 2016.
FINK, Daniel A. "Vermeer's Use of the Camera Obscura: A Comparative Study." The Art Bulletin 53 (1971).
GIEBE, Marlies. "Johannes Vermeers ‘Kupplerin': Restaurierung Und Maltechnische Befunde." In Uta Neidhardt and Marlies Giebe, eds., Johannes Vermeer: Bei der Kupplerin, 39–64. Exh. cat. Dresden: Michel Sandstein in association with Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, 2004.
GIFFORD, E. Melanie, Anikó Bezur, Andrea Guidi di Bagno, and Lisha Deming Glinsman. "The Making of a Luxury Image: Van Aelst's Painting Materials and Artistic Techniques." In Tanya Paul, James Clifton, Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., and Julie Hochstrasser, Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst, 80–84. Exh. cat. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2012.
GIFFORD, M. "Painting Light: Recent Observations on Vermeer's Technique." In Vermeer Studies, edited by Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art & New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998, 185–199.
GIFFORD, E. Melanie, and Lisha Deming Glinsman. "Collective Style and Personal Manner: Materials and Techniques of High-Life 'Genre Painting'." In Waiboer, Wheelock, and Ducos, Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting, 65–84, 270–74.
GIFFORD, E. Melanie, Dina Anchin, Alexandra Libby, Marjorie E. Wieseman, Kathryn A. Dooley, Lisha Deming Glinsman, John K. Delaney. "First Steps in Vermeer's Creative Process: New Findings from the National Gallery of Art," Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 14, no. 2 (Summer 2022).
GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Fine Painting and Eloquent Imprecision: Gabriel Metsu's Painting Technique." In Adriaan E. Waiboe, Gabriel Metsu, 154–79. New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the National Gallery of Art, 2010."
GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Lievens' Technique: ‘Wonders in Smeared Paint, Varnishes and Oils.'" In Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered, edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., 41–53. Exh. cat. New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the National Gallery of Art, 2008.
GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Material as Metaphor: Non-Conscious Thinking in Seventeenth Century Painting Practice." In Studying Old Master Paintings: Technology and Practice, edited by Marika Spring, 165–72. London: Archetype in association with The National Gallery, 2011.
GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Painting Light: Recent Observations on Vermeer's Technique." In Vermeer Studies, edited by Gaskell and Jonker, 185–99.
GROEN, Karin M., Inez D. van der Werf, Klaas Jan van den Berg, and Jaap J. Boon. "Scientific Examination of Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'." In Vermeer Studies, edited by Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art & New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998, 169–183.
KÜHN, Herman. "A Study of the Pigments and the Grounds used by Jan Vermeer." Reports and Studies in the History of Art. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1968.
LAURENZE-LANDSBERG, Claudia. "Neutron-Autoradiography of Two Paintings by Jan Vermeer in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin." In Wolfgang Lefèvre, ed., Inside the Camera Obscura: Optics and Art under the Spell of the Projected Image, 213–25. Berlin: Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science, 2007.
LEVY-HALM, Koos. "Where Did Vermeer Buy His Painting Materials? Theory and Practice." In Gaskell and Jonker, Vermeer Studies, 137–43.
LIBBY, Alexandra, E. Melanie Gifford, Dina Anchin, Marjorie E. Wieseman, Kathryn A. Dooley, Lisha Deming Glinsman, John K. Delaney. "Experimentation and Innovation in Vermeer's 'Girl with the Red Hat': New Findings from the National Gallery of Art," Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 14, no. 2 (Summer 2022).
LIEDTKE, Walter A., Richard C. Johnson, and Don H. Johnson. "Canvas Matches in Vermeer: A Case Study in the Computer Analysis of Fabric Supports." Metropolitan Museum Journal 47 (2012): 101–8.
LOON, Annelies van, Abbie Vandivere, John K. Delaney, Kathryn A. Dooley, Steven De Meyer, Frederik Vanmeert, Victor Gonzalez, Koen Janssens, Emilien Leonhardt, Ralph Haswell, Suzan de Groot, Paolo D'Imporzano and Gareth R. Davies. "Beauty is Skin Deep: The Skin Tones of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring." Heritage Science 7, no. 102 (December 11, 2019). Accessed May 2, 2022.
LOON, Annelies van, Alessa A. Gambardella, Victor Gonzalez, Marine Cotte, Wout De Nolf, Katrien Keune, Emilien Leonhardt, Suzan de Groot, Art Ness Proaño Gaibor, and Abbie Vandivere. "Out of the Blue: Vermeer's Use of Ultramarine in Girl with a Pearl Earring." Heritage Science 8, no. 25 (February 28, 2020). Accessed May 2, 2022.
NEIDHART, Uta, and Marlies GIEBE, with essays by Albert Blankert, Chrisitne Klose, Johann Koller, Annalise Mayer-Meintsschel et al. Johannes Vermeer 'Bei der Kupplerin,' exh. cat. Dresden, 2004.
PEETERS, Natasja. "The Painter's Apprentice in Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Antwerp: An Analysis of the Archival Sources." Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Italie et Méditerranée modernes et contemporaines, nos. 131–2 (2019), 221–27, https://doi.org/10.4000/mefrim.6461.
POTTASCH, Carol. "Underdrawings in the Paintings of Frans van Mieris." In Quentin Buvelot, Frans van Mieris 1635–1681, 62–68. Exh. cat. Zwolle: Waanders 2005.
OBERTHALER, E., J. Boon, S. Stanek, and M. Griesser. "'The Art of Painting' by Johannes Vermeer. History of Treatments and Observations on the Present Condition." In Vermeer, Die Malkunst: Spurensicherung an einem Meisterwerk, exh. cat. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, 2010, 215–234 and 322–327. See especially illustrations 49 and 50.
SHELDON, L., and N. Costaras. "Johannes Vermeer's 'Young Woman Seated at a Virginal'." The Burlington Magazine 148 (February 2006): 89–97.
SIVEL, Valerie, Joris Dik, Paul Alkemade, Libby Sheldon, and Henny Zandbergen. "The Cloak of 'Young Woman Seated at a Virginal': Vermeer, or a Later Hand?" ArtMatters: Netherlands Technical Studies in Art 4 (2007): 90–96.
VANDIVERE, Abbie, ed., "The Girl in the Spotlight: A Technical Re-Examination of Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'." Special Collection, Heritage Science 7–8 (2019–20). Accessed May 2, 2022.
VERSLYPE, Ige. "The Restoration of 'Woman in Blue Reading a Letter' by Johannes Vermeer." The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 60, no. 1 (2012): 2–19.
WALD, Robert. "'The Art of Painting': Observations on Approach and Technique." In Sabine Haag, Elke Oberthaler, and Sabine Pénot, Vermeer, Die Malkunst: Spurensicherung an einem Meisterwerk, 312–27. Exh. cat. St. Pölten: Residenz in association with Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 2010.
WALLERT, Arie. "The Materials and Methods of Michiel Sweerts's Paintings." In Jansen and Sutton, Michiel Sweerts, 37–47.
WADUM, Jørgen, René Hoppenbrouwers, and Luuk Struick van der Loeff. Vermeer Illuminated: Conservation, Restoration and Research: A Report on the Restoration of the View of Delft and the Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer. Wormer: V+K in association with the Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1994.
WADUM, Jørgen. "Contours of Vermeer." In Vermeer Studies. New Haven and London, 1998, 201–223.
WIESEMAN, Marjorie E. "Acquisition or Inheritance? Material Goods in Paintings by Vermeer and His Contemporaries." In Waiboer, Wheelock, and Ducos, Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting, 50–63.
WIESEMAN, Marjorie E., Alexandra Libby, E. Melanie Gifford, Dina Anchin. "Vermeer's Studio and the 'Girl with a Flute': New Findings from the National Gallery of Art," Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 14, no. 2 (Summer 2022).
While the book is not structured as a step-by-step instructional guide, it serves as an invaluable resource for realist painters seeking to enhance their own craft. The technical insights offered are highly adaptable, offering a wealth of knowledge that can be applied to a broad range of figurative painting styles.
