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The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell' Arte"

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Art, genuine art, is a pleasure not only in the thrill of color and line but in its procedure and materials. In fifteenth-century Florence, an artist named Cennino d'Andrea Cennini compiled a handbook for contemporary and future painters to consult in their drawing and painting from the beginning, in choosing their ingredients, mixing their paints and preparing their paper or cloth for painting on.

Unlike the making of sausage, the elements of creating art are a delight. Here are some how-to's excerpted from this wonderful little book (translated by Daniel V. Thompson, Jr., 1933, reprinted numerous times by Dover), still vibrant five hundred years after it was composed. The details also unwittingly reveal something of contemporary everyday life, where the art came from.

To paint on a panel, you start with a little boxwood panel nine inches square, washed with clear water and rubbed and smoothed down. "And when this little panel is thoroughly dry, take enough bone, ground diligently for two hours, to serve . . . take less than half a bean of this bone, or even less. And stir this bone up with saliva. Spread it all over the little panel with your fingers; and, before it gets dry, hold the little panel in your left hand, and tap over the panel with the finger tip of your right hand [presumably Cennino was right-handed] until you see that it is quite dry. And it will get coated with bone as evenly in one place as in another."

Wondering where to find the bone? "You must know what bone is good. Take bone from the second joints and wings of fowls, or of a capon; and the older they are the better. Just as you find them under the dining-table, put them into the fire; and when you see that they have turned whiter than ashes, draw them out, and grind them well on the porphyry."

Parchment comes from sheep or goats; to draw on sheep parchment, the artist lightly inscribes the background of bone with a sharp point. "On the parchment you may draw or sketch with this [stylus] of yours if you first put some of that bone . . . all over the parchment . . . dusting it off with a hare's foot." To add ink, "shade the folds with washes of ink; that is, as much water as a nutshell would hold, with two drops of ink in it; and shade with a brush made of minever tails . . ."

"And if you ever make a slip, so that you want to remove some stroke made by this little lead, take a bit of the crumb of some bread, and rub it over the paper, and you will remove whatever you wish."

The artist gives equally clear and detailed instructions for whittling goose quills to get a sharp point for ink drawing, to tempering paper with several coats of glue (tempera), to making clear tracing paper by scraping kid parchment and treating it with linseed oil. White lead is a basic ingredient, so is saliva. (Saliva combined with lead poses a health hazard; painters often died young.) Colors come largely from minerals, and the author explains how to pulverize and mix minerals to produce the paints desired.

Cennino explains every procedure in gessoing, stamping on gold, working on cloth, painting on velvet (yes, it goes way back), gilding saints' haloes, designing brocades, and embellishing with gold or tin. Much of a loss for art history, his instructions for mosaics are regrettably long since gone.

The author also makes some opening remarks designed to put art in context in creation. Much as he loves art, Cennino subordinates it to thinking, and he never loses sight of the fact that it is work. After the fall, "Man . . . pursued many useful occupations, differing from each other," some "more theoretical than others; they could not all be alike, since theory is the most worthy." Art is a "labor of love," but it is still labor.

Still, his praise for art, being genuine, is as strong as any I have ever read: "Close to [theory], man pursued . . . an occupation known as painting, which calls for imagination, and skill of hand, in order to discover things not seen, hiding themselves under the shadow of natural objects, and to fix them with the hand, presenting to plain sight what does not actually exist. And it justly deserves to be enthroned next to theory, and to be crowned with poetry."

This little gem contains a great deal of use for anyone trying to duplicate authentic, medieval /rennaisance painting techniques. The instructions on making egg tempera paints, for example, are extremely clear. This book may as well have "required reading" on the cover for anyone who is interested in painting, calligraphy, illumination or related fields in history and practice.

Please be aware! many techniques, pigments, and methods used in history were hazardous. many pigments in use in proffessional art workshops today are hazardous as well, but the Medeival artist did not have OSHA regulations and disclaimers. Please investigate the safety of ANY procedure or pigment before use.

This book is referenced by many other authors and webpages for their instructions, and can be used as Primary Documentation for most living history groups

I found this book to be a very fascinating how-to manual. A lot of the terms, however, would have been lost on me if were not for my Making of Art Supplies class. This is definitely not a book for the beginner to pick up and start making art supplies. Very useful for the Renaissance Faire attendee looking for a way to polish up an artist character.

This ultimate treatise on painting technique, together with the perception and insight of the artist Cenninni opens a wonderful new window into the realities of art and craftsmanship in this fascinating period. One also gets an idea of just how skilled these people are and how hard they worked to achieve the perfection in their works. A MUST-have for anyone interested in Renaissance painting, or painting technique - from the horse's mouth. I'm thrilled to possess this book!

A hand book for the fine artist. Art, drawing, computers, images of the mind all come together when we understand the skills that go into making a creative work. Hear the voices of Fifteenth Century craftmen. Try to understand their times and you will understand the how the skills of the Old Masters were aquired. If you are a serious artist, then take the opportunity to experience silverpoint drawing. Look for silverpointpanel on the web.

This book is both humorous to read and very enlightening in terms of more than just tecniques. It gives the reader a rare insight into the daily lifes of a medieval household as well, hidden in the description of methods.

There are many unfamiliar terms, to a novice in medieval painting tecniques, such as I am, but they are well explained as you go along reading.

I highly recommend this booklet.

Learn how to paint like medieval artists, right down to the colors and techniques they used.

This book was recommended to me a year ago at a scribal arts meeting for illuminators and I was intrigued. A year later I bought the book to get my "free shipping" and I'm kicking myself for waiting! It is filled with exactly what it says...historical drawing techniques as well as recipes and keen insight into the materials used by the great masters. This is a wonderful book for those of us who are medieval re-enactors, and who are wanting to teach and demonstrate the authentic methods to a modern audience. As an added bonus for SCAdians, this is a primary resource since it is an actual translation from a medieval manuscript. BIG cha-ching!

This book has it all for the scribal enthusiast. Written in Latin and later translated into English, this book holds the secrets and techniques of the great masters. It served as an art student's introduction to the ways of the scribal craft then as it can for you today. This is a must for the creative person who appreciates the artisan masters of 15th century Florence and wants to learn from their experience.

This is useful book, although not a beautiful one. I will use it for recipes to do things the "old way" maybe as the masters did.