Editing Illuminated manuscript (section)

=== Paints ===
While the use of gold is by far one of the most captivating features of illuminated manuscripts, the bold use of varying colors provided multiple layers of dimension to the illumination. From a religious perspective, "the diverse colors wherewith the book is illustrated, not unworthily represent the multiple grace of heavenly wisdom."<ref name="Putnam"/> There is evidence of illustratiors planning out color choice in advance, which indicates purposeful choice and design in the finished product.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /> There is also a great deal of nuance when it comes to the colors and painting of manuscripts. Illuminators would be trained in color combinations and stylistic distinctions by a form of apprenticeship, so the limited number of primary literary sources discussing colors and techniques may not be accurate to what the actual illuminators learned and followed.<ref name=":5" />

The medieval artist's palette was broad:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Melo |first1=Maria J. |last2=Castro |first2=Rita |last3=Nabais |first3=Paula |last4=Vitorino |first4=Tatiana |date=2018-12-01 |title=The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators' manual |journal=Heritage Science |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/s40494-018-0208-z |issn=2050-7445 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Color
! Source(s)
|-
! Red
| Insect-based colors, including:
* [[Carmine]], also known as [[cochineal]], where [[carminic acid]] from the ''Dactylopius coccus'' insect is mixed with an [[alum|aluminum salt]] to produce the dye;
* [[Crimson]], also known as [[Kermes (dye)|kermes]], extracted from the insect ''Kermes vermilio''; and
* [[Lac (resin)|Lac]], a [[scarlet (color)|scarlet]] resinous secretion of a number of species of insects.

Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including:
* [[Red lead]], chemically [[lead tetroxide]], Pb<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>, found in nature as the mineral [[minium (mineral)|minium]], or made by heating white lead;
* [[Vermilion]], chemically [[mercury sulfide]], HgS, and found in nature as the mineral [[cinnabar]];
* [[Rust]], chemically hydrated [[ferric oxide]], Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>·''n'' H<sub>2</sub>O, or iron oxide-rich earth compounds.
The color red was often associated with imagery like blood, fire, and godly power.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Colour and Meaning |url=https://colour-illuminated.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore/colour-and-meaning#:~:text=Green%20signalled%20new%20life,%20Eden,the%20unusual%20and%20potentially%20dangerous. |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=COLOUR: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts |language=en}}</ref> It was the most common and inexpensive color and as such was frequently used for initials, lettering, and borders and well as general imagery.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |title=Decoration and illumination - The University of Nottingham |url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/medievalbooks/decorationandillumination.aspx#:~:text=It%20was%20used%20to%20enhance,delicate%20and%20highly%20skilled%20process. |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=www.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Citation |last=Morgan |first=Nigal |title=Illumination – pigments, drawing and gilding |date=2008-03-27 |work=The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain |pages=84–95 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521782180.008 |access-date=2024-12-12 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/chol9780521782180.008 |isbn=978-1-139-05420-1}}</ref>
|-
!Pink
|
* [[Pink|Brazilwood pink]], a plant-based pigment extracted from the Asian tree ''Caesalpinia sappan.''<ref name=":1" />
* [[Purple|Orcein purple]], a dye extracted from several species of lichen found all over the globe.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Vieira |first1=Márcia |last2=Melo |first2=Maria João |last3=Nabais |first3=Paula |last4=Lopes |first4=João A. |last5=Lopes |first5=Graça Videira |last6=Fernández |first6=Laura Fernández |date=January 2024 |title=The Colors in Medieval Illuminations through the Magnificent Scriptorium of Alfonso X, the Learned |journal=Heritage |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=272–300 |doi=10.3390/heritage7010014 |doi-access=free |issn=2571-9408|hdl=10362/166241 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Pink was considered a fashionable color and was often found in clothing depictions of aristocrats and in filigree detail work.<ref name=":1" /> It also was used to color illuminated manuscript depictions of walls, lakes, and skies.<ref name=":1" />
|-
! Yellow
| Plant-based colors, such as:
* [[Mignonette (Reseda)|Weld]], processed from the ''Reseda luteola'' plant;
* [[Turmeric]], from the ''Curcuma longa'' plant; and
* [[Saffron]], rarely due to cost, from the ''Crocus sativus''.

Mineral-based colors, including:
* [[Ochre]], an earth pigment that occurs as the mineral [[limonite]]; and
* [[Orpiment]], chemically [[arsenic trisulfide]], As<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub>.
Yellow was often blended with other pigments in order to create natural earth tones, of which were common in medieval manuscript illumination.<ref name=":4" /> Yellow paint would also be layered underneath gold paint in order to create a multilayered gold effect.<ref name=":4" />
|-
! Green
|
* [[Verdigris]], chemically [[cupric acetate]], Cu(OAc)<sub>2</sub>·(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>2</sub>, made historically by boiling [[copper]] plates in [[vinegar]];
* [[Malachite]], a mineral found in nature, chemically [[basic copper carbonate]], Cu<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>·(OH)<sub>2</sub>; and
* ''China green'', a plant-based pigment extracted from [[buckthorn|buckthorn (''Rhamnus tinctoria, R. utilis'')]] berries.
Green was a relatively rare pigment on the illuminator's palette.<ref name=":4" /> It was used for landscapes and was often associated with visuals related to the Garden of Eden and rebirth.<ref name=":02"/> Verdigris Green was a specific shade almost exclusively used in cross imagery, and Green Earth was used under other pigments in order to create depth to skin tones.<ref name=":3" />
|-
!Blue
| Plant-based substances such as:
* [[Woad]], produced from the leaves of the plant ''Isatis tinctoria'';
* [[Indigo dye|Indigo]], derived from the plant ''[[Indigofera tinctoria]]''; and
* [[Turnsole]], also known as folium, a dyestuff prepared from the plant ''[[Crozophora tinctoria]]''.

Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including:
* [[Ultramarine]], made from the minerals [[lapis lazuli]] or [[azurite]]; and
* [[Smalt]], now known as [[cobalt blue]].
Blue, especially the pigment ultramarine, was a valuable and rare color and was commonly used in depictions of the Virgin Mary and for the clothing of important religious figures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Phenix |first1=Alan |last2=Roy |first2=Ashok |date=February 1995 |title=Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Volume 2 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1506614 |journal=Studies in Conservation |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=69 |doi=10.2307/1506614 |jstor=1506614 |issn=0039-3630}}</ref> Less expensive or poorer quality blue pigments were sometimes used for initials, lettering, and borders.<ref name=":22"/><ref name=":5"/>
|-
! White
|
* [[White lead]], chemically [[lead carbonate|basic lead carbonate]], 2PbCO<sub>3</sub>·Pb(OH)<sub>2</sub>, and historically made by [[corrosion|corroding]] sheets of [[lead]] with vinegar, and covering that with decaying matter, such as [[feces|dung]], to provide the necessary [[carbon dioxide]] for the [[chemical reaction]]; and
* [[Chalk]], chemically [[calcium carbonate]], CaCO<sub>3</sub>.
White was used often in association with religious objects or figures, and was also used as an underpigment as to provide a base for other colors and provide depth, notably in instances of combination with blues to create skies and with reds to create different skin tones.<ref name=":3" /> White was also used, especially in the Gothic period, to outline figures and to create layered highlights.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /><ref name=":5" />
|-
! Black
|
* [[Carbon]], from sources such as [[lampblack]], [[charcoal]], or burnt bones or [[ivory]];
* [[Cephalopod ink|Sepia]], from the ink produced by the [[cuttlefish]], usually for an escape mechanism; and
* [[Iron gall ink]], where in medieval times iron nails would be boiled in vinegar; the resulting [[ferrous acetate|compound]] would then be mixed with an extract of [[oak apple]] ([[oak]] [[galls]]).
Black was used for inking text as well as for outlining facial features and gilded aspects like halos in order to create further depth and visual emphasis.<ref name=":5" /> Black would also be used for "sketching" the illumination before eventually filling it in with color.<ref name=":5" />
|-
! Gold
|
* [[Gold leaf]], gold hammered extremely thin, or gold powder, bound in [[gum arabic]] or egg; the latter is called ''shell gold''.
|-
! Silver
|
* [[Silver]], either silver leaf or powdered, as with gold; and
* [[Tin]] leaf, also as with gold.
Silver would be used for lettering in a similar fashion to gold, to provide shine and beauty to the page.<ref name=":4" />
|}