Arts and crafts in the Middle Ages : $b a description of mediaeval workmanship in several of the departments of applied art, together with some account of special artisans in the early RenaissanceAddison, Julia de Wolf
History
Arts and crafts in the Middle Ages : $b a description of mediaeval workmanship in several of the departments of applied art, together with some account of special artisans in the early Renaissance
Addison, Julia de Wolf
Arts and crafts movement; Decoration and ornament, Medieval; Decorative arts -- History; Illumination of books and manuscripts
Niello is more than simply a drawing on metal. That would come
under the head of engraving. A graver is used to cut out the design
on the surface of the silver, which is simply a polished plane. When
the drawing has been thus incised, a black enamel, made of lead,
lamp black, and other substances, is filled into the interstices,
and rubbed in; when quite dry and hard, this is polished. The result
is a black enamel which is then fused into the silver, so that
the whole is one surface, and the decoration becomes part of the
original plate. The process as described by Theophilus is as follows:
"Compose the niello in this manner; take pure silver and divide
it into equal parts, adding to it a third part of pure copper,
and taking yellow sulphur, break it very small... and when you
have liquefied the silver with the copper, stir it evenly with
charcoal, and instantly pour into it lead and sulphur." This niello
paste is then made into a stick, and heated until "it glows: then
with another forceps, long and thin, hold the niello and rub it
all over the places which you wish to make black, until the drawing
be full, and carrying it away from the fire, make it smooth with a
flat file, until the silver appear." When Theophilus has finished
his directions, he adds: "And take great care that no further work
is required." To polish the niello, he directs us to "pumice it
with a damp stone, until it is made everywhere bright."
There are various accounts of how Finiguerra, who was a worker
in niello in Florence, discovered by its means the art of steel
engraving. It is probably only a legendary narrative, but it is
always told as one of the apocryphal stories when the origin of
printing is discussed, and may not be out of place here. Maso
Finiguerra, a Florentine, had just engraved the plate for his famous
niello, a Pax which is now to be seen in the Bargello, and had
filled it in with the fluid enamel, which was standing waiting
until it should be dry. Then, according to some authorities, a
piece of paper blew upon the damp surface, on which, after carefully
removing it, Maso found his design was impressed; others state that
it was through the servant's laying a damp cloth upon it, that
the principle of printing from an incised plate was suggested.
At any rate, Finiguerra took the hint, it is said, and made an
impression on paper, rolling it, as one would do with an etching
or engraving.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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