eraclius

Updated: May 14, 2025

Of the recipes given by the early treatises, I will quote a few, for in reality they are all the literature we have upon the subject. Eraclius, who wrote in the twelfth century, gives accurate directions: "Take ochre and distemper it with water, and let it dry. In the meanwhile make glue with vellum, and whip some white of egg.

Julia de Wolf Gibbs Addison - Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages: A Description of Mediaeval Workmanship in Several of the Departments of Applied Art, Together with Some Account of Special Artisans in the Early Renaissance

This," continues Eraclius naïvely, "is what I have learned by experiment, and have frequently proved, and you may safely believe me that I shall have told you the truth." This assurance of good faith suggests that possibly it was a habit of illuminators to be chary of information, guarding their own discoveries carefully, and only giving out partial directions to others of their craft.

Julia de Wolf Gibbs Addison - Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages: A Description of Mediaeval Workmanship in Several of the Departments of Applied Art, Together with Some Account of Special Artisans in the Early Renaissance