Yellow and orange pigments
Artists' Materials
Technical analyses revealed the presence of realgar, lead-tin yellow type I, an organic yellow and an ochre rich in clay minerals. The same clay-rich ochre was also used to paint orange and brown passages on some folios. The presence of a yellow lead oxide, such as massicot, is also possible, and is especially likely in the miniature on fol. 36r.
Acanthus initial S and border with peacock feathers (prayer Salve sancta facies)
The indulgence prayer promises admission to heaven and it could also reduce one’s ordeal in Purgatory by thousands of years, if recited while looking at the image of Christ on the facing page (fol. 13v). The text is engulfed in peacock feathers, referencing one of Christ’s symbols – the bird of Paradise whose flesh, according to legend, did not putrefy after death.
The peacock’s plumage was favoured by discriminating patrons and Flemish artists rose to the challenge of its naturalistic depiction. On this page, the peacock feathers were rendered with complex mixtures and layers of a number of colourants, including red lead, malachite, lead white, shell gold and earth pigments. The bright blue centres of the feathers were painted with smalt, a relatively uncommon pigment obtained by grinding blue glass. This is the only occurrence of smalt identified so far in this manuscript.