Blue pigments
Artists' Materials
Azurite was used in the majority of blue areas on every folio analysed, although the presence or absence of trace amounts of barium, zinc and arsenic suggest the use of different sources or batches of the same pigment. High amounts of barium impurities, in particular, characterise the images attributed to the Painter of Additional 15677. Ultramarine and smalt were identified on one folio each (fols. 15r and 14r respectively). Indigo was also detected in a minority of areas on several folios.
Acanthus initial S and border with peacock feathers (prayer Salve sancta facies)
The indulgence prayer promises admission to heaven and it could also reduce one’s ordeal in Purgatory by thousands of years, if recited while looking at the image of Christ on the facing page (fol. 13v). The text is engulfed in peacock feathers, referencing one of Christ’s symbols – the bird of Paradise whose flesh, according to legend, did not putrefy after death.
The peacock’s plumage was favoured by discriminating patrons and Flemish artists rose to the challenge of its naturalistic depiction. On this page, the peacock feathers were rendered with complex mixtures and layers of a number of colourants, including red lead, malachite, lead white, shell gold and earth pigments. The bright blue centres of the feathers were painted with smalt, a relatively uncommon pigment obtained by grinding blue glass. This is the only occurrence of smalt identified so far in this manuscript.