verdigris

Ingredients

vinegar, copper

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

While an exact recipe for verdigris manufacture is not provided in the ibn Badis text itself, the author notes its frequent use and reactivity. The pigment is generally understood in the contemporary literature to be produced by the action of vinegar on copper (p. 8).

Evidence

"Verdigris was a very common green pigment... in ibn Badis, this is the favorite green in spite of the fact that botanical greens are much better since verdigris is much more reactive with the commonly used orpiment."

Remarks

Levey highlights a chemical danger noted by ibn Badis: verdigris is highly reactive with orpiment (yellow arsenic), making its use in proximity to that pigment problematic (p. 8).