Some work in progress of an illuminated I am doing for this Samhain. Allow me to “illuminate” how Medieval illuminated manuscripts were created.

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In the Medieval period, raised gold gilding was achieved by mulling together a gesso base made with Plaster of Paris, fish glue, honey, egg glair, and other sticky substances. When the leaf is applied, it create a beautiful gold gilding which catches the light.

A pigment would be added to the mixture to help it stand out against the page and to give the gold a warm tint. This was usually colored with Armenian bole, but I just substituted with a dry gouache.

The plaster itself is what makes the gesso hard. However this plaster needs to be “slaked” which makes it pH neutral. Unslaked plaster is slightly acidic and reacts with water much more rapidly, which is not what we want.

Egg glair, which is an adhesive substance made from whipped egg white was one of the binding agents used to give the gesso tack. This was added along with honey/sugar, as well as fish glue, an ancient animal adhesive made from boiled fish parts.

Once the gesso has dried, the scribe would breathe on the gesso, which makes it regain a little bit of tackiness, so that the gold leaf can be laid on top. This would then repeated with several layers of gold leaf.

Afterwards the gold would then be burnished to a beautiful, mirror-like shine. This was usually done with a smooth wolf tooth back in the day, but a polished agate burnisher is what I used.

Progressively adding on coats of color. Vermillion red which is what I am using now, was originally made by grinding cinnabar, which is a compound of mercury, made with mixing Mercury and Sulfur together. This color is very representative of the alchemical process.

Paintin.

More detailing no. 1 #medievaltwitter #medievalart