1st century colour palettes: pigments of classical Greece and Rome from Vitruvius, Pliny, Theophrastus, Dioscorides

Abstract

The sources of pigments used in European painting are found in classical antiquity, and the over 40 pigments in use were described by Theophrastus, Vitruvius, Pliny the Elder, and Dioscorides. The principles of painting were also described by Pliny, to be picked up by Italian Renaissance painters of the 15th century, and they are discussed by the Editor. The pigments in the four extant treatises are described in full which, together with the artistic principles, make this little book a basic primary source for both classical painting and subsequent European painting.