A thousand-year tradition brought to the Renaissance the colours of the ancients, and the ferment of a new, more polished humanity added some tones resulting from the art it had mastered: the transformation of matter. Alchemy completed nature and opened one's eyes to the light and colours of the dawn of the modern world. This line of colours offers the tonalities of the master artists of the Italian Renaissance: in paint composition, in grinding pigments and in the use of rare semi-drying oils, non-yellowing and crystal clear.
Many pigments in this range correspond to the ancient originals; others replace - in calibrated and perfect imitation - compounds of heavy metals that, being toxic, harmful or polluting, should no longer be used. This also provides for safe mixtures of colours, eliminating any risk of alteration. Research into ancient pigments made it possible to select the finest and most stable colours, eliminating problems with incompatible substances once hard to mix.
With the exception of Kermes Lake and Bistre, these tints were made with inorganic pigments based on non-hazardous metallic salts that strive to faithfully imitate the shades of traditional pigments based on lead, mercury and copper. Colours based on metallic salts have excellent light-resistance. The concentration of each individual pigment is especially high. All the paints are prepared with grain size and dispersion in walnut oil similar to those of the ancient compositions.
The Colours in this prized range dry in 2 to 4 days, applied to anon-absorbent support in a coat varying from 50 to 200 microns. Application, using brush or palette knife, is different from traditional oil colours due to the larger size of the pigment particles.
All the tints are made with walnut oil extracted cold. This oil, formely used by many great Veneto masters, yellows only very slightly and forms films that are solid, compact and extremely bright.
Brushes of varied thickness can be used with these colours, but preferably of animal hair or bristle. The paint is dense, slipping under the brush that leavesdeep, distinct traces.
The colours can be thinned solely with walnut oil, safflower oil, lavender essence or appropriate mediums suited to all lines of oil colours.
It is best to avoid the solvents typically used to dilute. The range can be perfectly integrated with other lines of oil colours, especially Italian Natural Earth Colours, which can usefully supplement the palette proposed here, on both the compositional and historical planes. A final tip when using this range: take the inner time you need, the basis of every fine creation. Made in Italy