Gold ground
The gold leaf is the gold leaf that was used in book and panel painting in Western and Byzantine art since the 4th century AD . The gold ground gives the picture material preciousness and a neutral, solemn surface. The figures shown appear isolated from the warm gold tone, which has an undeniable attraction, especially in an architectural setting.
The gold ground goes back to the Byzantine mosaics and was adopted over time for miniature painting as well as painting with glue paints , tempera paints and oil paints . In Italy, the gold background for images of saints was almost exclusively used until the end of the 15th century. In the 16th century he had to give way again to landscape elements in Western art, while Byzantine-Russian icon painting retained the gold background. In more recent times the gold ground has been used again in church wall paintings and in panel paintings with a religious content, for example in the Speyer Cathedral and in the Altlerchenfeld parish church in Vienna .
literature
- Author collective: Meyers Konversationslexikon , 4th edition. Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna 1885–1892, Volume 7, p. 488.
- Meyer's Encyclopedic Lexicon . Bibliographical Institute, Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1973, Volume 10, p. 558.