On the Red and Yellow Pigments of Post‐Byzantine Greek Icons*

Red and yellow pigments on more than 50 panel paintings were investigated. The studied artefacts dated from the mid‐15th to the mid‐19th centuries and came from regions in modern‐day Greece. Cinnabar and yellow ochres predominated. Ιn the case of the region of north‐west Greece there was a persistent use of orpiment and the employment of a peculiar ochre‐type pigment, while the rare lead‐antimony‐tin yellow was identified in an early 18th‐century Greek icon. Trends in pigments use during the post‐Byzantine period are revealed and compared with contemporary Western European ones. Recipes and terms of the Hermeneia manual are revisited in light of the analytical data, and pertinent misconceptions are restored.