Syllabus - Traditional Painting Techniques & Materials

Summer 2025
Mon, June 9 - Fri, Jul 4, 2025 (four weeks)
Amelia, Italy
Meets daily: Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM (4 weeks)
Afternoon Workshop: Monday - Friday, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM (4 weeks)
Location: Our classroom for both lectures and workshop are situated within the cloister of St. Augustine Church, a 13th-century gem consecrated in 1288, with a Romanesque-Gothic façade).
Lead Instructor: Professor Nikolas Vakalis

No prerequisites required.

Catalog Description:
This course provides a comprehensive exploration of the traditional painting materials and techniques that were commonly employed in Italy during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. With a primary focus on individuals aspiring to study art conservation, the course also investigates the factors that accelerate the deterioration of these materials, along with the various restoration approaches employed to address them.

Format:
Participate in informative lectures and lively discussions based on assigned readings and lecture material. Esteemed professionals specializing in restoration and conservation of paintings in different media will deliver presentations on diverse topics, fostering a deeper understanding of both historical and contemporary artwork.

Student Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, students will have achieved the following:

·       Explore diverse painting techniques, including easel paintings, wall paintings, and wall decorations, utilizing historical materials and techniques.
·       Analyze and compare the organic and inorganic materials specific to each painting technique and each step for their creation, such as supports, preparatory layers, binders, and pigments.
·       Illustrate the chemical processes and reactions involved in fresco paintings and a wall decoration like sgraffito.
·       Distinguish and evaluate the variations in fresco production across different historical periods.
·       Explain the various causes of deterioration that can impact each painting technique and explore potential restoration methods to mitigate their effects.

Grading:
Participation                30%
Midterm Exam            35%
Final Exam                35%

Required Reading
Cennino Cennini, The Craftsman’s Handbook. (provided)

Mrs Mary P Merrifield, Art of Fresco Paint in Middle Ages: In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Dover Fine Art, History of Art), Paperback – 27 Feb. 2004

Lecture Topics:
Materials

Supports
o   Masonry
o   Wood
§ Canvas
Paint

o Pigments
§ Natural
§ Artificial

Binders
o Inorganic
o Organic
§ Animal
§ Vegetable
Protective layers: varnishes
o Proteinic
o Terpenes

Techniques
Fresco painting
Materials
o Lime
§ Lime cycle
§ Carbonation
§ Aggregates: sand, marble dust
Technical procedures
o   Arriccio
o   Intonaco
o   Pictorial layer
Fresco evolution throughout the centuries
o   Classical Antiquity: Roman
§ Pontata
§ Polishing
o   Middle Age: Byzantine
§ Pontata
o   Renaissance
§ Pure fresco
§ Sinopia
§ Giornata
o   Techniques for transferring the design
§ Patroni
§ Stencil
§ Pounced drawing
§ Cartoon
Sgraffito (wall decoration technique)
Painting on wood board using 14th century methods
o   Support: technology of wood
o   Preparatory layers
§ Incamottatura
§ “Gesso” ground
o   Paint Layer
§ Pigments
§ Binders
§ Gilding
- Gouache gilding method (bolo)
- Relief technique in guazzo gilding
- Burnishing
- Mordant gilding method
- Granulation
- “Estofado de oro” (sgraffito)
- Translucent painting
Oil painting on canvas
o   Stretchers
o   Support
o   Preparatory layer
o   Paint layer
§ Pigments
§ Binders
o   Protective layers