natural mixture of clay minerals, mainly glauconite or celadonite, also known as ‘terre verte’
general formula K[(Al,FeIII),(FeII,Mg)](AlSi3,Si4)O10(OH)2
Duller in hue than the copper-based greens, green earth was mainly used by European easel painters and illuminators as a base layer for flesh tones. It appears however to have been the green preferred by 12th- and 13th-century Byzantine, Armenian and Levantine illuminators.
