The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (156 page)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

emblem
.

A visual image carrying a symbolic meaning and often accompanied by texts to explain this meaning. In its most typical form the emblem consisted of a picture, a motto, and an explanatory verse called an epigram. For example, one of the most famous emblems depicted a dolphin and an anchor with the motto
Festina Lente
(‘Make haste slowly’), to symbolize the idea that maturity is achieved by a combination of the speed and energy of the dolphin and the steadiness and gravity of the anchor. The aim of the emblem therefore was to give symbolic expression to a moral adage. Printed collections of emblems (‘emblem books’) enjoyed a great vogue in the 16th and 17th cents. and were often used as sources of pictorial imagery. In particular, Cesare Ripa's
Iconologia
(1593, first illustrated edition, 1603) became the standard handbook on
iconography
for artists.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

emulsion
.

A liquid in which water is combined with an oily or resinous substance in such a way that they will not separate out. Oil proverbially will not mix with water, but if an emulsifying agent—such as albumen—is added, it will surround the drops of oil and prevent them from coming together. The
medium
of
tempera
painting is always an emulsion. The natural emulsions used most commonly in painting are egg-yolk and
casein
. Both have the advantage that once they have set they are not soluble in water.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

enamel
.

A smooth, glossy material made by fusing glass to a prepared surface, usually of metal. The term is also applied to any object made with, or decorated by, this material. The study of enamelling belongs mainly to the history of jewellery and the decorative arts, but in the Middle Ages enamel was sometimes used for major works, notably
Nicolas of Verdun's
Klosterneuburg Altar. Today the word ‘enamel’ is loosely used of any glossy protective covering such as durable paint or varnish applied to the surface of objects made from metal, wood, etc.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Spanish: ‘flesh-coloured’). Term applied in Spanish art to the painting of the flesh parts of wooden sculptures in more or less naturalistic colours. The term ‘estofado’ (literally ‘quilted’) is applied to the painting of draperies. In the 16th cent. the paint of both flesh and draperies was given a glossy finish, but in the 17th cent. a matt finish was adopted for greater realism. Such work was sometimes done by distinguished painters as well as by specialist craftsmen—
encarnadores
and
estofadores
. For example,
Pacheco
often painted figures by
Montañes
. See also
POLYCHROME
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

encaustic painting
.

Technique of painting with
pigments
mixed with hot wax. Its name derives from a Greek word meaning ‘burnt in’ and it was one of the principal painting techniques of the ancient world.
Pliny
describes two methods which were already ‘ancient’ in his day (one of them on ivory), and a third newer method which had been devised since it became the practice to paint ships, and he records that it stood up to sun, salt, and winds. Encaustic painting was the commonest technique in the early centuries of the Christian era but fell into disuse in the 8th or 9th cent. Since then various attempts have been made to revive it (e.g. by Julius
Schnorr von Carolsfeld
, who painted several scenes in encaustic in the Residenz at Munich in 1831). Jasper
Johns
has used encaustic in his
Flag
and
Target
paintings, but the technique finds few exponents today, probably because it is too troublesome.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search