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Old 28th August 2020, 01:17 AM   #38
Philip
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: California
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Smile it's on the tip of my tongue !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
"...discovery consists of seeing what everybody
has seen;
and thinking what nobody else has thought"
-Albert von Szent-Gyorgy



However, we wonder why they would be so much more effected than the average person of the time, if indeed they were. Surely not every artist was adversely effected as they all used lead based paint. However, possibly certain artists had peculiar quirks or habits, such as wetting their brush in their mouth etc. Possibly they were exposed to other sources of the same noxious elements, adding to a 'perfect storm' in the exposure.

It seems to me the term 'mad' is much overused and often inappropriately to note persons who are quirky or obsessed in certain areas, or sometimes many, in eclectic interests. People of intellect are often, possibly even almost typically, somewhat socially inept.

It has been my impression that duelists and brawlers were often regarded in their hubris as romantic and exciting figures, much as the famed gunfighters (then shootists) of the wild west, and much celebrated.

Caravaggio probably was not entirely averse to this reputation, and as art is as noted, often deeply allegorical, these nuances such as discussed are probably more in that regard than result of derangement caused by lead poisoning in specific.
Jim, you raise some very valid and quite interesting points!

1. Regarding paint chemistry, I'm not at all certain how many artists' pigments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance contained lead. Also considering the differences in techniques required different compositions. For instance, there were watercolors, tempera (based on egg white), oils, etc. Applied to various bases (wood, various fabrics, leather, and fresh plaster). For architectural pigments, I read somewhere that milk-based paints were popular because they were cheap considering the large areas to be covered; these were used into the 19th cent. and there is at least one company still making bovine pigment for historical restoration purposes -- and it's no longer an economy priced product.

2. Licking of brushes -- makes some sense with watercolor or tempera, but sounds mighty unpleasant with oil paints! Eesh!

3. Madness, like insanity, are common vernacular and literary terms but have not been part of the legal or medical vocabulary for donkey years. Human behavior is affected by a lot of factors -- glandular and cerebral function and chemistry are complex issues.

4. Celebrated heroes of the past -- they become more heroic and less dastardly as they recede into the historic past, and after novelists and Hollywood have their say!
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