ABSTRACT
Raphael preferred tinting his canvases yellow.
Brushes were made from minerva tails and hog’s hair: the minerva
brushes were a soft brush, while hog hair brushes were more bristly.
Making pigments was a complicated process: white was made
from crushing calcium carbonate and then washing it for eight days
in spring water; browns, such as raw sienna and umber, were
extracted from the hills around Ghibelline city; verdigris was made
by grating a copper plate soaked in the urine of newborn babies;
Lapis Lazuli blue could only be found in Afghanistan, making it so
precious that it was worth almost as much as gold; reds were made
from grinding up kermes insects and, worst of all, many colors
contained poisonous lead that caused headaches and sickness.
