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SUMMARY:What have the planets got to do with the metals? Scientific axioms
  and astrology. - Dr Spike Bucklow\, Hamilton Kerr Institute\, University 
 of Cambridge
DTSTART:20110127T190000Z
DTEND:20110127T200000Z
UID:TALK28449@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:John O'Toole
DESCRIPTION:For over three thousand years\, a range of metallic corrosion 
 products were manufactured for use as artists’ colours. The talk looks a
 t recipes for making pigments in artists’ treatises and the use of pigme
 nts in Old Master paintings to examine the historic connection between met
 als and planets. It focuses on a recipe that involves mercury.\n\nWe will 
 look at medieval artists' materials and methods in a manner as close as po
 ssible to the way painters themselves saw them in the middle ages. To do t
 hat\, we must adopt the world view of 13th/14th century European artisans 
 and assume that they were reasonably well-informed about science\, philoso
 phy and religion\, but were not too worried about the finer details. We wi
 ll encounter general principles that pervade their traditional world view\
 , giving a broader understanding than just alchemy or paint. \n\nSigned co
 pies of Dr Bucklow’s book\, “The Alchemy of Paint”\, upon which this
  talk is based\, will be available for purchase after the lecture. The boo
 k draws upon his experience as a scientist studying the material nature of
  works of art. His starting point was that great paintings are physical te
 stament to medieval skills in chemistry\, optics and perception\, just as 
 the great Gothic cathedrals are physical testament to medieval engineering
  skills.\n \nSuitable for artists and scientists. Open to non-members. Fre
 e admission. Suitable for A-level students. \nNotes: No tickets - so come 
 early to get a good seat. Doors open at 18:30. \n \nContact : John O’Too
 le\nEvent organised by Cambridge University ChemSoc\, RSC Mid-Anglia Secti
 on & SCI Cambridge & Great Eastern Region\n
LOCATION:Department of Chemistry\, Lensfield Road\, Cambridge
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