Green pigments and mixtures

Artists' Materials

Green hues were obtained in a variety of ways: copper sulphates, copper carbonates as well as mixtures of azurite with lead-tin yellow and an organic yellow were identified. The individual artists seemed to favour one or more of these greens, which helps define their ‘signature’ palette.

Areas painted with copper sulphates were often found to contain high amounts of silicon. This may be due to the presence of quartz and other silicates, which would be naturally mixed with mineral copper sulphates.