Burnt bread (Manchet) - Burgundian Black

> Figures 31a, 31b, 31c No image of quote / Color sample 7

Figure 31a: Bread. In: Ibn Butlan, Tacuinum sanitates, 1445-1451, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, MS Latin 9333, fol. 61r. 330 × 220 mm. Parchment? (Courtesy of the Bibliothèque nationale de France)

“Broot Swart. Wittenbroot salmen branden tusschen gloeijende kooIen tot dat het geheel swart is, ende vrijvent dan wel fijn op eenen steen ende doet daer bij een halve boon groote sout, met soo veel gestoote gom ende wijn, ende 1aeten dat so een half ure ten minsten vrijven, en strijcken ‘t dan in een schelp en laet het droogen tot dat gij ‘t gebruijcken wilt ende tempert het dan met schoon waeter, en wilt gij het bruijnder set eht met ruijwaeter dat is sloot waeter, en het sal goet wesen.”[1][1] “Bread black. White bread is burned between red-hot coals until everything is black, and then grind it finely on a stone, and add salt the size of half a bean, with as much pounded gum and wine, and grind it at least half an hour, and then put it in a shell, and let it dry until you want to use it and then temper it with clean water, and if you want it brown, then mix it with the water from the sluice, and it will be fine.” In: Veen. 1650-1687. De Wetenschap en[de] Manieren: Without page.

Unintentionally burnt bread is common and surely was available in fifteenth-century Burgundy. However, when artists precisely discovered it as a source of black pigment requires further investigation. Burnt white bread, also referred to as burnt Manchet, is frequently mentioned in later sources, but does not appear in any of the consulted pre-1600 recipes for black watercolor pigments. Boogert (1692) refers to a “stuck roggen-broodt”, rye bread.[2][94] Boogert, 1692, 'Klaer lightende Spiegel der Verfkonst', Bibliothèque Méjanes in Aix-en-Provence, MS 1389 (1228), n.p.

Figure 31b: Bread (Photo: B. Reissland).

Figure 31c: Bread burnt (Photo: B. Reissland).

[1] “Bread black. White bread is burned between red-hot coals until everything is black, and then grind it finely on a stone, and add salt the size of half a bean, with as much pounded gum and wine, and grind it at least half an hour, and then put it in a shell, and let it dry until you want to use it and then temper it with clean water, and if you want it brown, then mix it with the water from the sluice, and it will be fine.” In: Veen. 1650-1687. De Wetenschap en[de] Manieren: Without page.
[2] Boogert. 1692. Klaer lightende Spiegel der Verfkonst, Bibliothèque Méjanes in Aix-en-Provence, MS 1389 (1228): Without page number.

[2] Boogert. 1692. Klaer lightende Spiegel der Verfkonst, Bibliothèque Méjanes in Aix-en-Provence, MS 1389 (1228): Without page number.