Friday, May 23, 2014

A History Of Botticelli Paintings

By Darren Hartley


Botticelli paintings revise traditional procedures to adopt recent innovations. They use tempera grassa, a medium in which the egg yolk was modified by the addition of oil to make the paint more transparent. Botticelli followed the methods that had been perfected in the previous century, showing the conservativeness in his approach.

The pigments used in refined Botticelli paintings were the finest of his time. They were applied in thin, opaque layers known as scumbles, while the reds and greens were frequently glazed. They acquired a compact density, producing an exquisite, enamelled effect and creating an extraordinarily luminous subtlety.

It is unfortunate to note that most of the Botticelli paintings have lost the fullness of their beauty over the years. This loss can be attributable to the fact that colors have a tendency to change nature, to become more transparent, as the years passed on. A prime example is copper resinate, which turns from green to brown, in an irreversible chromatic change, an excessive contrast and a loss of luministic gradation.

The flesh tones in Botticelli paintings constitute the most refined among its many components. The faces of women were pale and porcelain like, the infants and children endowed with more intensely colored, ruddier complexions while the men appeared with darker flesh.

Botticelli paintings showcased the skill of its artist with the media of chalk, pen, bistre and tempera. Botticelli was considered a pioneer in his use of paper tinted with roses, violets, yellows and grays. This established a middle value for figures, modelled up with whites in the light and down with darker colors.

The uniqueness in the Botticelli paintings consisting of the Dante illustrations lie in their being executed only in outline. They were initially scratched into the parchment and overdrawn with slate and ink. Some of the ink tracings were done with utmost care, others were less advanced while little progress was evident in the execution of their coloring.




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