{"id":3097,"date":"2023-11-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artigianicreativi.it\/2023\/11\/15\/the-gilding-of-miniatures-and-honey-part-2\/"},"modified":"2023-11-15T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T09:00:00","slug":"the-gilding-of-miniatures-and-honey-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artigianicreativi.it\/en\/2023\/11\/15\/the-gilding-of-miniatures-and-honey-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The gilding of miniatures and honey (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>We continue with our journey to discover the ancient techniques of gilding miniatures on parchment manuscripts with the help of honey&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The plaster compound for gilding the illuminated codices<\/strong> consisted of a binding substance, which could be <strong>egg white or gum arabic, mixed with honey<\/strong>, and which gave the gilded part a three-dimensional, chiseled effect.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>In addition to enhancing the adhesive capacity of<\/strong> the compound by increasing its flexibility, <strong>honey served to prevent fractures in the gilded surface<\/strong>. Due to its sugar content, it also acted as a degreaser, thus removing moisture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The ready plaster was then spread on the page<\/strong>, with the help of a quill or miniature brush. With quick and delicate gestures it was spread from the center toward the corners, following the contours of each element of the sketch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A very thin sheet of gold was then taken and placed on the pillow for gilding<\/strong>. On the latter the gold could be flattened with a blow or cut with a small knife into small strips and into the various desired shapes.<\/p>\n<p>It <strong>was then followed by the application of the gold leaflets to the page<\/strong>. The miniaturist had to maintain the right humidity of the paper and plaster, breathing deeply on the page so that there was a perfect adhesion. Immediately the newly applied gilding was covered with silk, holding it pressed down with the thumb.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thus began the gold-polishing phase<\/strong>, carried out with a special tool consisting of a dog&#8217;s (or possibly cat, wolf, lion&#8217;s) tooth mounted on a handle. By polishing, superfluous gold would peel off and fall off, and these small particles could be recovered or simply removed with a brush.<\/p>\n<p>Even today, honey is still used in the artisan world, especially in the <strong>restoration of ancient manuscripts<\/strong>: the original compounds are reconstituted, which over time managed to preserve the extraordinary beauty of the miniatures.<\/p>\n<p>But also in <strong>painting<\/strong>: well-known are <strong>honey watercolors<\/strong>, artisanal products made by mixing pure pigments in a solution of acacia honey and gum arabic. Honey in this case increases the solubility of the colors and enriches their brilliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We continue with our journey to discover the ancient techniques of gilding miniatures on parchment manuscripts with the help of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1499],"tags":[1504],"class_list":{"0":"post-3097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-curiosities","8":"tag-historical-craftsmanship"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gilding of miniatures and honey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The gilding of miniatures on ancient parchment codices using honey for its adhesive properties.\" 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