CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Making Colors in Europe, 1400–1800 examines artistic production in the early modern period through the lens of its distinctive colors; recipes for pigments, dyes, and glazes were often closely guarded secrets and critical to the value of a work of art. The search for new, better, cheaper, or longer-lasting colors engaged makers and their audiences as an inherent part of this era’s push for scientific discovery and European economic expansion.