Painting the flesh
Artists' Techniques
The Mazarine Master applied flesh tones over a light pink base layer, containing lead white and variable quantities of vermilion. He used a range of earth pigments to delineate shadows, and short parallel strokes of vermilion red to define noses, cheeks and mouths, and often eyebrows and foreheads. Facial features were further outlined in brown or black.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Book 1: On God)
Dressed in a bright blue robe and crowned with a papal tiara, God presents Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden, before an audience of angels and animals, including a mythical unicorn. Three six-winged seraphim, angels at the top of the heavenly hierarchy, hover in the sky above. It was thought that the term ‘seraphim’ meant burning or fiery, which explains why these angels are painted red.