
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~097v~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mastic varnish dry in a half
hour



Some take 2 ℥ of mastic, half
℥ of turpentine & half
℥ of turpentine oil & eau de
vye, a little at your discretion, because it evaporates when heated
& nonetheless makes the varnish more desiccative. But I made
it thus: I take turpentine oil at discretion & put in a good
bit of turpentine, because it remains always moist & attaches
itself if one puts in too much, & eau de vye, & heat in a
varnished bowl the said oil, & when it begins to be
very hot, I put in some subtly ground mastic & around
one-third of the oil passed through a sievel, and let reheat until it is melted, which will be soon on
hot ashes. Once all melted, try it on the knife, and if
you see that it has too much body, add in a little turpentine
oil, and if it does not have enough, add in mastic, and thus
it well be done. And keep it well covered so that no filth gets in. When
you want to make it, be careful to sort & choose the mastic
that is white & purified of any dirt & dust & black dross.
And when you wash it & dry it to render it very white & clean,
it will be even better. For if you do not purge it well, these
straws & marks, pulverised into it, will remain
within the varnish, & when you set it on white or carnation,
it will appear that they are fleas & blemishes. Once well
chosen, pulverise it in a mortar and pass it through a very
fine sieve, and next mix it in oil, as is said. But if you
want to make it more carefully, extract a tear of mastic, as you
know, pulverise, pass, & mix, and you will have something very
singular for small works. Take heed when varnishing not to breathe on
it, for this will make the varnish whiten & take body.



It almost dries when working.



One knows that this varnish does not have body enough when it
does not take well on a panel in oil for it is like water.
Add in therefore pulverized mastic & heat until it is good.
This varnish is very white & beautiful, & does not go to
your head like that of spike lavender.



For some, instead of tourturpentine oil, put
spike lavender oil, which is not as good.



This varnish is laid down cold on the panel with a very clean
fingertip, & one needs to spread it
vigorously.



The Italians scarcely varnish their paintings because they lay
their paintings very thick & they are a long time drying
on the inside, though on top they make a dry skin & crust.



One lays the varnish with a finger so as make a
lean layer, because when thick, it yellows.


Painting on glass



It is a strange thing that the workers of this art cannot
work well if they do not have good breath, for if they have a
bad one, their work will break in the fire when re-heated.

