2020 Essays

Painting in Oil on Taffeta II

Yar, Sumeyye

Two recipes in BnF Ms. Fr. 640 (fols. 42v and 10v) describe oil painting on taffeta “without the oil running.” However, these recipes contain no information about what exactly is meant by “oil running,” what the exact ingredients or their quantities are, and why there are two different recipes in the manuscript for the same purpose. Exploring these questions, this reconstruction shows that when prepared at certain ratios, applying a sizing mixture over the surface of the taffeta serves to prevent oil paint from seeping into the taffeta fibers, and thus stops its diffusion.