atacamite, antlerite, malachite

Ingredients

atacamite, antlerite, malachite, coarse calcite, azurite

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

A variety of copper compounds were identified in 16th-century Tabriz folios. In sample #24, antlerite was mixed with azurite for the main image, malachite with coarse calcite for illumination, and atacamite with malachite for the borders (p. 25-26). In another folio (#26), antlerite dominated with intermingled azurite, while malachite/calcite mixtures were used for architectural features (p. 26).

Evidence

"In a folio dated to 1520–1530, (Table 1, #24) the main image contains mixtures of antlerite with azurite, the illumination contains a mixture of malachite and coarse calcite and the border contains a mixture of atacamite and malachite."

Remarks

The rich use of diverse copper greens suggests that artists selected pigments based on hue rather than chemical composition. These may be natural mixtures from ores or batches of artificially produced corrosion products (p. 26).