annotated bibliography

01 ∴ Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopedia

Gettens, Rutherford J., and George L. Stout
Dover Publications, New York, 1966.

Details the chemical and historical properties of iron oxide pigments including sinopia.

02 🜍 Pompeian pigments: A glimpse into ancient Roman colouring materials

Grifa, Carmela, Chiara Germinario, Silvio Pagano, et al.
Journal of Archaeological Science 177, 2025

Analysis of pigment composition in Pompeian wall paintings, detailing the properties of red earths including hematite-based sinopia.

03 🜎 Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary and Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments

Eastaugh, Nicholas, et al.
Routledge, 2008.

Pigment reference text, combining mineralogy, historical use, and microscopy for identification.

04 ♂ Natural History, Book 35

Pliny the Elder, translated by H. Rackham.
Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1952.

Ancient Roman descriptions of mineral pigments, including sources and uses of red earths.

05 🜈 The Great Age of Fresco: Discoveries, Recoveries and Survivals

Meiss, Millard.
G. Braziller in association with the Met, 1970.

Discusses history, style and techniques of fresco paintings, including sinopia underdrawings.

06 🜔 The Camposanto of Pisa in the Wake of World War Two

Hoeniger, Cathleen, edited by Flora and Wilkins.
Art and Experience in Trecento Italy. Brepols, 2019.

Examines the wartime destruction and subsequent uncovering of sinopie in the Camposanto, underscoring their resilience after the loss of surface fresco layers.

07 🜛 Three Books of Occult Philosophy

Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius, translated by James Freake.
Llewellyn Publications, 1993.

Renaissance occult framework associating planets with metals and symbolic qualities.

08 🜍 Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul

Burckhardt, Titus.
Penguin Books, 1986.

A philosophical and historical analysis of alchemy that interprets calcination as a fundamental process of spiritual purification.

09 ✠ The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century

Mâle, Émile
Princeton University Press, 1984.

A foundational study of medieval iconography, including color symbolism and the visual language of holiness and power.

10 🜂 Apocalypse Illuminated: The Visual Exegesis of Revelation in Medieval Illustrated Manuscripts

Emmerson, Richard K.
Penn State University Press, 2018.

Comprehensive analysis of color symbolism in apocalyptic manuscript illumination across seven centuries.

11 🜄 Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature

Newman, William R.
University of Chicago Press, 2004.

Historical analysis clarifying which metals were actually targeted in gold-making alchemy.

12 🜖 The Forge and the Crucible: The Origins and Structure of Alchemy

Eliade, Mircea
University of Chicago Press, 1979.

Explores the symbolic and ritualistic role of furnaces and crucibles in the alchemical process.