What Painting Is: How to Think about Oil Painting ... - Victoria Vesna

A SHORT COURSE IN FORGETTING CHEMISTRY 29
a. Like black earth, presenting “shining eyes” when
broken [probably manganese oxide with small
reflective crystals]
b. Ferrous, bitter, and masculine
c. Similar to copper, with “shining eyes,” feminine
[probably “manganese-spar,” i.e., rhodochrosite or
rhodonite]
3. Edaus [either iron ore composed of iron oxide, or iron
filings or iron slag]
4. Thutia [zinc compounds, especially zinc carbonate,
ZnCO 3, and zinc oxide, the latter a sublimation product
in brass-making]
5. Azur [lapis lazuli, Na 4–5Al 3Si 2O 12S]
6. Dehenegi [malachite, CuCO 3 Cu(OH) 2]
7. Ferruzegi [turquoise, principally CuAl 6(P0 4) 4(OH)
8 4H 2O]
8. Emathita [hematite or “bloodstone,” Fe 2O 3]
9. Cuchul [antimony sulfide and lead sulfide (galena,
PbS)]
10. Spehen [misreading; perhaps a form of cuchul]
11. Funcu [Latin succen, arsenic oxide]
12. Talca [Arabic talq; not talc, but mica or layered
gypsum]
13. Gipsa [Arabic jibsīn, gypsum, CaSO 4]
14. Glass
D. Six atraments [metallic sulfates and their impurities]
1. Black atrament [impure FeSO 4]
2. Alum [KAl(SO 4) 2 in varying degrees of purity, as well
as other metallic sulfates]
3 Calcandis or white atrament [Arabic qalqant, a
weathering product of iron or copper ores or alum]
4. Calcande or green atrament [Arabic qalqādis, iron and/
or copper sulfate]
5. Calcatar or yellow atrament [Arabic qalqatār, either the
decomposition product of sulfide-and sulfate rich
copper or iron ores, or else burnt iron vitriol (iron
sulfate), i.e., iron oxide]
6. Surianum or red atrament [Arabic sūrī, same as above]