626

On the preparation and use of colours.

Verdigris with aloes, or gall or turmeric makes a fine green and so it does with saffron or burnt orpiment; but I doubt whether in a short time they will not turn black. Ultramarine blue and glass yellow mixed together make a beautiful green for fresco, that is wall-painting. Lac and verdigris make a good shadow for blue in oil painting.

Taken from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci edited by Jean Paul Richter, 1880.

VII * X
Notebooks of Leonoardo da Vinci
VIII: Botany for Painters and Elements of Landscape Painting.
. . .
606
Of representing the deluge.
607,
608,
609
Of depicting natural phenomena.
610,
611
Of chalk and paper.
612,
613,
614,
615,
616,
617
On the preparation and use of colours.
618,
619,
620,
621,
622,
623,
624,
625,
626,
627
Of preparing the panel.
628
The preparation of oils.
629,
630,
631,
632,
633,
634
On varnishes [or powders].
635,
636,
637
On chemical materials.
638,
639,
640,
641,
642,
643,
644,
645,
646
. . .