2020 Essays

Paintbrushes in Ms. Fr. 640

Carr, Danielle

“Paintbrushes” (“Pinceaulx”) on fols. 66v–67r is one of the few entries in Ms. Fr. 640 that concerns itself with the making of craft tools. By the sixteenth century, paintbrushes (also known as “pencils”) could be purchased ready-made by specialist artisans. Yet technical manuals and treatises on the art of painting continued to include instructions to make them in the workshop. By reconstructing the recipe and situating it in relation to contemporary recipes for brush making, this essay concludes that the level of detail and ready-to-hand materials in “Paintbrushes” suggests the author-practitioner at least witnessed brush making and perhaps even attempted it himself.