L
ead-tin yellow can also be seen in the blouse worn
by the willing young lady in Vermeer’s The Procuress.
The beautiful orange-red coat worn by the dashing young
man about to hand the girl her wage was created with
vermilion (also on Monet’s list), a mercury pigment (HgS).
It was common to enhance its richness by glazing over it
with transparent organic reds, such as madder lake. The
exquisitely painted lobster in the de Heem still life is also
vermilion. The lemon peel, a frequently used device to show
the artist’s skill, also has the dimpled effect in the paint itself.
Orpiment and realgar, naturally occurring minerals
containing arsenic, were known in antiquity as far back as
ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Mercuric sulfide, reportedly
derived from the natural mineral cinnabar found in the mines
in Almadén, Spain, was used in ancient Rome. White lead
was also known and used by the Romans, but its toxicity was
perhaps not well understood, since it found a use in women’s
cosmetics! The accumulation over time of the deleterious
effects of poisons became known with advances in modern
medicine and biochemistry. An interesting case in point is
that of the great master Peter Paul Rubens.
Cornelis de Heem (1632-1695)
Still Life with a Lobster
no date
18 7/8 x 25”
private collection
40
ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
The Procuress
1656
Oil on canvas
56 ½ x 61”
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden