'Artificial orpiment'
Artists' Materials
Used alongside other, more common yellow and orange pigments, ‘artificial orpiment’ is present in small details throughout the manuscript, including the feathers of some birds, the tunic of the innkeeper who refuses Mary and Joseph lodging, as well as the sleeves of one of the adoring shepherds.
To date, this unusual, glass-based pigment has only been identified in one other manuscript painted in Rome or Bologna around the same time as this Primer: Fitzwilliam Museum, Marlay cutting It. 25.
Joseph seeks Mary’s forgiveness; Joseph and Mary denied lodging in Bethlehem; Nativity
The ochre-coloured clothing of the man refusing Mary and Joseph lodging, in the lower right scene, was painted with ‘artificial orpiment’, an unusual pigment which the artist utilised alongside the more common lead-tin yellow.