Abstract
During the Middle Ages writing was done on varied materials (parchment, paper, wood, wood tablets covered in wax, glass, stone, mortar) and using varied tools (quills, nibs, brushes, by incision, by carving). The observations included in this chapter are concerned with inks used to write on paper and parchment only. They were used for official documents, but also to transcribe the painters’ handbook and to write on manuscripts (some of them illuminated). Some originated in princely, judicial or ecclesiastical offices. There are also numerous manuscripts written by clergymen or laymen who exchanged letters, translated or copied other manuscripts, or recorded events, balances, thoughts, recipes of interest for everyday life or for practicing different trades. Knowing the composition of the inks, the way to prepare and to use them, is of interest for the history of science, for those who conserve and restore art objects, as well as for their custodians.
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- 1.
Manuscripts in which there are colored decorations (first letters, miniatures, borders). At the beginning the term was used only for manuscripts decorated with gold and silver. Today any manuscript from Europe or the Middle East having colored decorations is considered as such.
- 2.
Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry—atmospheric pressure ion source which ionizes inks (in this case) or other liquids, gases, even solids to be analyzed by mass spectrometry.
- 3.
Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance is a sampling technique using the property of total internal reflection that is coupled with infrared spectroscopy.
- 4.
As a chemical compound it is the hydrated potassium aluminum sulfate (potassium alum) with the formula KAl(SO4)2·12H2O. The name is also used for double sulfates of a monovalent cation (alkali or ammonium) and a trivalent one (aluminum or chromium).
- 5.
Religious book used in the Orthodox religious service mainly by cantors (not priests or deacons).
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Leonida, M. (2014). Inks Prepared and Used by Iconographers. In: The Materials and Craft of Early Iconographers. SpringerBriefs in Materials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04828-4_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04828-4_7
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