Lead White and Red Lead in 15th and 16th Century Europe

Colors play an important role in expressing meaning. People have looked to different sources to obtain desired colors for art-making. Italy, in particular, played an important role in pigment manufacturing and enabling the exploration of different painting techniques in 15th and 16th century Europe. Here we look at two pigments, lead white and red lead, their properties, how they were manufactured at the time, and how they were used in European painting.