This page was created by Ryan Carter.
The Adoration of the Kings: How was this made?
Ryan Carter, Class of 2025, College of the Holy Cross
There were many different styles of painting that emerged in Italy during the time of the Renaissance and when Nelli was an active painter. However the methods used to create panel paintings at the time usually followed a similar series of steps. Painters would usually include a ground layer made of gypsum and glue, an under-drawing, overlapping paint layers, a mixture of pigments and binding materials such as animal glue, egg or siccative oil and an external varnish that would have been used to touch up the painting.
It was also typical of 15th century Italian panel paintings to show signs of tempera magra which was a mix of egg, pigment and a water soluble binder. Many Italian panel paintings of this time also showed the presence of incamottatura which was a technique that involved using raw canvas to prepare, cover and uniform the wooden panel on which it was painted.
