Lead tin yellow

Letter writer in yellow
	Jan Vermeer , 1665-1670
	Oil on canvas
	45 × 39.9 cm
	National Gallery of Art

Lead tin yellow , lead tannate , canary yellow or canary yellow is a granular lemon to golden yellow pigment that has been artificially produced and used since the Middle Ages . Lead tin yellow has good covering power and, when bound with oil, dries very well due to its metal content. It was proven in European panel painting from around 1300 to 1750 . After that it was replaced by Naples Yellow .

history

Tin lead yellow was long forgotten because it was confused with lead yellow and Naples yellow due to inadequate research methods . It was not rediscovered until 1940/41 by Richard Jacobi, the then head of the chemical-physical department of the Doerner Institute in Munich, and also manufactured according to old recipes.

Lead tin yellow was from 15. – 17. Century the most important yellow pigment in European panel painting alongside ocher. In spite of this, so far only one source has been discovered with the so-called "Bolognese Manuscript" (15th century) that describes the production of two pigments from lead and tin. They are referred to there as "Giallolino" and "Giallorino". While the first was made from "roasted lead" and pewter, sand was added to the second, creating a kind of yellow glass. In today's literature they are referred to as lead tin yellow / lead stannate I and lead tin yellow / lead stannate II.

In the other Italian sources from Cennini to Filippo Baldinucci , tin-lead yellow (Giallorino) is mentioned, but not described in more detail. In the German sources one finds only the designation »Pleygel« (lead yellow) without further explanation and in the Dutch and French sources next to »Ocher« only the pigment »Massicot« is found. Again, this cannot be found in the Italian. As early as the 19th century, the Englishwoman Mary P. Merrifield concluded that "Giallorino" and "Massicot" were probably the same pigment. This is confirmed by the test results by Richard Jacobi and Hermann Kühn.

Production, properties, evidence

It is made by heating a mixture of red lead and tin dioxide . The temperature during this process is 650–800 ° C. In comparison to lead yellow, lead-tin yellow is lightfast and has just as good coverage . It is often found in mixtures with green or blue pigments . It was proven u. a. on paintings by Rembrandt , Jan Vermeer van Delft and many others. Vermeer used tin-lead yellow for the yellow jacket in the painting "Letter Writer in Yellow" . It is now commercially available again after not being made for several centuries.

Chemically it is a lead tannate that is divided into two types:

Type I: ${\ displaystyle Pb_ {2} SnO_ {4}}$
Type II: ${\ displaystyle PbSn_ {2} SiO_ {7}}$

Individual evidence

^ Hermann Kühn: Lead-tin-yellow . In: Studies in Conservation . tape 13 , 1968, p. 7-33 .
↑ Hermann Kühn u. a .: Reclam's Handbook of Artistic Techniques . 2nd Edition. tape 1 . Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-15-010322-3 .
↑ Merry P. Merrifield: Original treatises on the arts of paiting . London 1849.
↑ Knut Nicolaus: DuMont's handbook of painting . DuMont Literature and Art Publishing, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-8321-7288-2 .
^ Lead-tin-yellow , ColourLex

[1] Hermann Kühn: Lead-tin-yellow . In: Studies in Conservation . tape 13 , 1968, p. 7-33 .

[2] Hermann Kühn u. a .: Reclam's Handbook of Artistic Techniques . 2nd Edition. tape 1 . Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-15-010322-3 .

[3] Merry P. Merrifield: Original treatises on the arts of paiting . London 1849.

[4] Knut Nicolaus: DuMont's handbook of painting . DuMont Literature and Art Publishing, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-8321-7288-2 .

[5] Lead-tin-yellow , ColourLex