The Alchemy of Paint looks at medieval artists' materials and
methods in a manner as close as possible to the way painters
themselves saw them in the middle ages. To do that, it had to
adopt the worldview of 13th or 14th century European artisans.
It assumes that they were reasonably well-informed about
science, philosophy and religion, but were not too worried about
the finer details. As such, the book is a primer, introducing
general principles that pervade the traditional worldview. I
therefore hope it will prove useful to readers whose interests
may be wider than just alchemy or paint. The book follows in the
footsteps of C.S. Lewis' The Discarded Image. The book draws
upon my experience as a scientist studying the material nature
of works of art. My starting point was that great paintings are
physical testament to medieval skills in chemistry, optics and
perception, just as the great Gothic cathedrals are physical
testament to medieval engineering skills. Approaching artworks
as the tangible traces of em