Basic Gilding

 

There are MANY ways to handle gold. I try to go over as many as possible, but if there is something you feel I have left out, please feel free to let me know!

 

On the Order of Things

 

Gold can be laid before or after the calligraphy is done, but bear in mind that all gold work MUST be done before you put down paint. Gold will stick to the paint very easily an it makes things very difficult. If you see gold in a manuscript that is on top of paint, it is usually shell gold -- a gold paint made from gold flakes usually collected as a byproduct of the gilding process -- which is just painted on top and bypasses the need to do gold first. The downside with shell gold, however, is the inability to buff it to any real extent.

 

Flat vs Raised

 

There are type main types of gilding: flat and raised. It is EXTREMELY difficult to tell the difference in many of the digital images but you can sometimes put it together based on other images in the manuscript and known gilding practices at the time/place. Flat gilding uses a thin mordant that simply covers the surface of the parchment and the shine is dependent on how smooth the parchment is since that is what determines how smooth the gold will lay. Raised gilding is not necessarily raised very high off of the parchment, though there are examples where that is the case, rather it means there is a clay-based mordant on top of the parchment that creates a whole new surface on which to lay the gold, called gesso. The smoother the gesso, the shinier you can get your gold.

 

Flat Mordants

 

There are several modern flat mordants that you can use, though my preferred modern is definitely the miniatum ink for nibs at John Neal Books (but that's just what works for me). However, if you are looking for a more period approach, there are several approaches. My favorite is garlic juice. This is easy to make; you simply puree garlic and squeeze out the juice. Other options include fish glue (I've never made my own, though there are several commercially available), boiled stout (you boil it until it is super goopy then water it down as needed), glair (I have never had success with glair but some people swear by it), and several others. I have also had some success with watered down gesso (see below), though I don't know if that can be technically classified as a flat mordant. Mistress Sunneva de Cleia is my go-to on flat gilding and knows 100x what I know on the topic. I found garlic juice and haven't looked back, though everybody finds what works for them.

 

For the miniatum ink, you let it sit about 30 minutes (depending on humidity) and you are good to go; just lay the gold straight onto the mordant. For all of period options, you apply them and let them sit a couple minutes. For the thicker ones like fish glue and stout, you may need to water them down a little before applying. Once they are no longer wet to the touch, though still tacky, they are ready for rehydration and laying the gold (below).

 

Raised Mordants

 

The sweeping term applied to raised mordants is gesso. The common modern gesso is called miniatum. The yellow bottle off of John Neal Books is my go to. There are two common recipes for gesso: one with lead and one without. The one with lead is period, but toxic. The one without works perfectly fine without the toxicity. The recipe for the lead-free gesso is below, though I am still working out the recipe for the one with lead included. The largest variation you will see in manuscripts is the pigment used to allow the artist to see the gesso better, ranging from more yellow in Eastern Europe, paler pink in France and Italy, to dark red in Northern Europe. Usually you can tell based on small chips in the gold in the images of the manuscript. Gesso works best when you make it fresh, but can be rehydrated, though the gold tends to not shine quite as well.

 

For the miniatum, you let it set ~45 minutes, though no longer than ~1.5 hrs, and you should be set. This way it will be semi-solidified in the middle but still receptive to gold. For clay-based gesso, you paint on small portions at a time, let it set a few minutes until the inside is no longer soft, then it is ready for rehydration and laying the gold (below).

 

How to Make Gesso

 

The modern recipe, which is period style, though not entirely period, uses slaked plaster, hide glue (or woodworking glue), armenian bole or another pigment for a coloring agent, and 6-12 drops of warm honey. The slaked plaster gives the smooth surface, the hide glue acts as an adhesive and hardener, and the honey adds stikiness and flexibility. The exact recipe, obtained from Mistress Adela Scrijver van Brugge, is as follows:

 

1 Tablespoon - slaked plaster (neutralized Plaster of Paris, chalk, or calcium carbonate)
1 teaspoon - hide glue liquid (woodworking glue)
coloring agent - bole, red or yellow ochre watercolor or gouache
6-12 drops of warm honey 

 

Add these to a smooth, non-porous surface (such as a large tile) and grind/mull until VERY smooth. Keep going until you think you're done then do it some more. The smoother it is, the better the shine of the gold. Try to use a grinder or muller instead of a pestal and mortar because pestal and mortar cannot get it nearly as fine and can take hours to get it fine enough to use at all. This recipe is, from my experience, MUCH better to use fresh, though you can allow it to dry and rehydrate if needed.

 

I am currently researching a reproduction of a more period recipe. According to Cennini, gesso can be made of gesso sottile (slaked plaster), white lead at less than a third of the slaked plaster, a little sugar candy, and water; later he adds that armenian bole can be added for color. For the purpose of a set recipe, I used 10 parts slaked plaster, 3 parts lead white, and 1 part crushed sugar candy, brought to consistency with water. For the candy, I used a recipe that is 1:1 raw sugar and raw honey brought to firm ball stage and allowed to cool, then crushed for the gesso. The gesso is allowed to dry and rehydrated with glair. Notice the period recipe has no glue. The theory is that it works bc lead white has natural adhesive properties, there is more sugar than in the modern recipe, and the glair added at the end to rehydrate also adds to the adhesive properties that we instead use glue for nowadays, but honestly they'd leave out parts of recipes all the time, so it may actually end up needing glue afterall (esp since other period recipes tend to call for glues).

 

Applying the Mordant

 

After your mordant has been prepared, simply paint it on in the consistency desired and as evenly as possible. Allow it to dry. For flat gilding mordants, this usually only takes a couple minutes. The surface should be slightly tacky to the touch, but not wet. For gesso, allow it to sit until the surface is dry to the touch to ensure the lower layers have also settled.

 

Slightly remoisten the surface of the mordant by breathing on it, either directly or through a large straw (milkshake straws work great for this!). This prepares the surface to receive gold, so don't remoisten more than you think you can lay gold on.

 

If you use miniatum, just let flat miniatum set until set, but tacky to the touch (usually 15-30 minutes). Let raised miniatum set for 40 mintes to an hour, depending on how thick you apply it, to allow the under layers to solidify properly.

 

Laying Gold: Loose Leaf

 

The images here are for raised gilding with a modern gesso, but the priciple still holds. First, lay your gesso and remoisten the area you want to work on with your breath as described above. The next step is applying the gold. One way is to simply tear off a bit with an exact knife or fan brush, and carry it over to the section that is remoistened. Another is to use gilding pad (pictured below) to cut the piece you need and bring it to the section that is remoistened. This is more accurate, but note everyone has a pad. After placing down the gold, put glassine paper over the gold and use a burnisher or smooth stone (it would have been a smooth stone or dog tooth in period -- I use coyote teeth, or my wisdom tooth in some cases) to rub lightly, pressing the gold onto the gesso. Brush away the excess with a soft brush, cotton/wool, or a rabbit's foot. Repeat several times to get 6-8 layers of regular weight leaf, 3-5 layers of double weight leaf, and 2-4 layers of Cennini weight leaf. If it is not sticking, breath on the gold in between..