Davidowitz, T., Beentjes, T., van Bennekom, J., Creange, S., Eyb-Green, S., Townsend, J.H., Clarke, M., Nadolny, J., Kroustallis, S., and History of Arts
The BnF Ms. Fr. 640 manuscript, written by an anonymous French goldsmith at the end of the 16th century, can be found in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. It describes the process of producing metal life-casts in great detail, from the preparation of the moulds to applying the final decorative paint layers. While the practice of applying translucent paints, otherwise referred to as ‘cold enamels’, to a metal substrate has long been used as an alternative to traditional enamelling, the result is extremely vulnerable to damage and subsequent restorations. It is perhaps for this reason that no significant research has yet been published on this subject. The Merkel tablepiece by Wenzel Jamnitzer (currently in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) appears to have a great deal of intact original paint, which provides a good basis for study. Using the paint recipes and methods in the manuscript as a guideline, analytical techniques including X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, as well as polarised light microscopy and ultraviolet light, were used to identify the pigments and binders on the Merkel tablepiece.