The Hours of Philip the Bold

Differences in palette

Artists' Materials

Three of the main illuminators of the Grandes Heures used yellow sparingly and employed vergaut for green. The Master of the Coronation Book of Charles V, however, painted numerous details in bright lead-tin yellow and combined this same pigment with indigo for his greens.

In the miniatures by the Master of the Throne of Mercy, the orange areas, which he painted with minium like everybody else, have deeper, dark red overtones. This unique feature is due to his use of vermilion, applied as a ‘glaze’ layer over the minium.

This miniature was painted by the Master of the Throne of Mercy.