cochineal

Ingredients

cochineal, indigo, Indian lac

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Cochineal was the primary red/pink organic colorant used (p. 160). For purple spots, such as on folio 116, cochineal was mixed with indigo (maximum absorption at 660 nm) and Indian lac (absorption maximum at 530 nm) (p. 161, Tab. 4-29).

Evidence

"the material used for all these colour spots is cochineal, which according to the colour tonality desired by the painter has been combined with different amounts of white lead (Fig. 5-64)."

Remarks

Cochineal was identified on folios 17, 148, 236, and 273 for clothing and flowers (p. 161). It was often mixed with white lead to vary the pinkish hue.