Journal articles by Umberto Veronesi
Journal of Cultural Heritage , 2024
This work provides an overview of the pigments used by Portuguese azulejo painters through the st... more This work provides an overview of the pigments used by Portuguese azulejo painters through the study of 34 glazed tiles belonging to the National Azulejo Museum in Lisbon, Portugal. The tiles are dated from the late 16th century to the early 19th century, with most samples attributed to the 17th and 18th centuries. Building on a previous study where the chemical composition of the 17th-century colour palette was characterised [1] , we used a non-invasive methodology to further identify compositional differences among groups of colours spanning a wider timeframe. Blue, white, yellow, orange, purple, green and brown decorations were analysed by EDXRF to obtain qualitative and (in some samples) quantitative information on their chemical composition. μ-Raman spectroscopy was used to identify the main colouring agents. Finally, colorimetric measurements of the different hues of each colour were performed to address the relation between colour and chemical composition. Our results show that greens could be obtained through a copper-based pigment or by mixing lead-antimonate with cobalt-blue pigment. Although cobalt is the colouring agent of all blue decorations, compositional differences suggest the use of different types of raw materials or the addition of specific reagents to modify the hue. On the other hand, yellow hues ranging from lemon yellow to orange were manufactured by adding zinc, tin, or iron oxide to a lead antimonate base. Finally, a manganese ore was used to make the purple pigment. Overall, we noted that while the basic pigments remained the same, the colour palette was progressively widened during the 18th century. This was done by using more pure pigments (i.e ., with less iron), by changing the ratio in pigment mixtures (i.e ., blue and yellow), or by overlapping colour layers for artistic effects. Finally, the results of the chemical and colorimetric analyses are always influenced by the concentration of the pigment in the glaze, its thickness and the overlapping of pigments used by azulejo painters to expand the shades available for the final artistic composition.
Viewpoint - Magazine of the British Society for the History of Science, 2023
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2023
The 2 nd millennium BC in the Eurasian Steppe has widely been recognised as the period of exponen... more The 2 nd millennium BC in the Eurasian Steppe has widely been recognised as the period of exponential surge in circulation of metals, as well as metal exploitation activities across this area. Nevertheless, there is a general paucity of data on metal production in the steppes, which comes in as crucial in the interpretation of the role metalmaking played in the Bronze Age Eurasian Steppe communities. Here we report analyses of a pilot sample of nine smelting slags from the 2 nd millennium BC metalmaking workshop of Taldysai in Central Kazakhstan. Our preliminary results identified at least two metal production lines: copper and arsenical copper. Copper metal was obtained by co-smelting copper oxides and sulfides most likely originating from local cuprous sandstone in a single step. Arsenical copper production is exhibited through co-smelting of copper and arsenic-rich ores in two steps, one to remove sulfur, the second to release the iron present in the charge. Compared against a reference database of nine 2 nd millennium BC Bronze Age metal production sites across Eurasia, our results suggest that metalsmiths had mastered multiple ways to extract copper-based alloys: by combining raw materials in different recipes, applying diverse pyrotechnological solutions and exploiting a variety of locally and regionally available ores. This perspective allows for postulating local inventiveness at play for copper and copper alloy production in the Bronze Age steppes, and beyond.
Nuncius, 2023
This article is the first interdisciplinary study of excavated early modern lute, a paste that al... more This article is the first interdisciplinary study of excavated early modern lute, a paste that alchemists wrapped around vessels, contextualising its relevance for the history of science. We explore the material epistemology of the alchemical laboratory by opening a conversation between archaeological sciences and the history of the body, medicine, and science. In an age that valued embodied epistemologies, we argue, medicine mattered for cultures of making and affected alchemists’ material practices. This article combines the scientific analysis of luted glass remains from the sixteenth century Oberstockstall alchemical laboratory in Kirchberg am Wagram, Lower Austria, with the in-depth study of recipe collections, alchemical, botanical, medical, and metallurgical treatises, and visual sources. Based on this methodology, we argue that the alchemist’s material practices were strongly linked to early modern Paracelsian thought and medical understandings of the body. In methodological terms, this article shifts boundaries
between historians, archaeologists, and materials scientists.
Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, 2023
tNaples yellow was widely used across different types of artwork. Technical studies iden-tified a... more tNaples yellow was widely used across different types of artwork. Technical studies iden-tified a binary Pb–Sb type as well as modified ternary variants with either zinc or tin inthe structure. Although these variants were the object of previous experimental studies, abetter understanding of the impact of the glazing procedure on the chromatic, chemicaland crystallographic characteristics of the pigment is still lacking. In this work, several his-torical Naples yellow recipes were re-worked and subsequently applied and fired on testtiles, over a white glaze. The results show that the interaction between pigment and glazeproduces important modifications to the colour, chemistry and structure of the pigment.Such modifications will strongly impact the reconstruction of historical recipes, with majorconsequences for identifying Naples yellow variants on artwork and investigating artisticpractices.
Ambix , 2022
Towards the end of the seventeenth century, Oxford’s chymical community came together in the Ashm... more Towards the end of the seventeenth century, Oxford’s chymical community came together in the Ashmolean Museum. Founded in 1683, the institution was part of Oxford University and home to the first official chair of chymistry in the country, with practical teaching directed by Robert Plot in the basement laboratory. The information at our disposal is scarce and Plot did not leave us detailed accounts of his laboratory work. However, a large assemblage of ceramic crucibles and distillation apparatus was recovered from the site where the laboratory once operated, an invaluable material perspective on the experimental agenda of one of the most important chymical laboratories in early modern Europe. The scientific analysis of the materials indicates that the work focused on technological innovation in the fields of glassmaking, specialised pottery, and zinc metallurgy, and shows how the laboratory kept close contact with some renowned artisan-entrepreneurs of the time. We argue that material culture offers an informative perspective on chymical practice in and beyond Oxford. The results provide fresh insight into the Old Ashmolean Museum, an institution that grew out of the Baconian spirit, where doing chymistry meant working at the intersection of artisanal and scholarly worlds.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2021
The differentiation between alchemy and chemistry as separate disciplines is relatively recent. A... more The differentiation between alchemy and chemistry as separate disciplines is relatively recent. As such, an understanding of the early history of chemistry requires an approach to actual laboratory activities that avoids anachronistic biases and generalisations. This paper presents the analytical study of an assemblage of early modern chemical vessels used in the laboratory of the Old Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the first university institution in Britain where chemistry was taught. We explore the nature and range of laboratory activities conducted there in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, at a time when Europe witnessed the rise of the new experimental sciences and major technological advancements. The assemblage comprises crucibles of different types, ceramic distillation equipment and other containers. The analyses of residues found within them indicate that the laboratory's experimental programme engaged some of the most relevant technological as well as philosophical quests of the time, including the production/working of new types of glass and the distillation of zinc. The results reinforce the idea of a tightly connected chemical community operating in early modern Oxford and beyond, with members including both natural philosophers and industrial entrepreneurs, and whose aims straddled the investigation of nature as well as the pursuit of profit. Moreover, this archaeological study makes visible the epistemic exchanges between the more scholarly and the more artisanal worlds, thus making a relevant contribution to the history of early modern science.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019
The paper presents new research on an assemblage of metallurgical crucibles used in the assay of ... more The paper presents new research on an assemblage of metallurgical crucibles used in the assay of minerals at colonial Jamestown.
The aim of the study is to explore the range of chemical operations carried out at the site of the first permanent British settlement
in America, for which little is known in the documents. The results show that the colonists used high-quality Hessian crucibles to
perform tests on different types of complex polymetallic sulphides. This was done to (1) prospect for potential silver and copper
ores and (2) to find suitable sources of zinc and tin to be alloyed into brass and bronze through cementation with imported copper
offcuts. This study makes a relevant contribution to the growing field of the archaeology of early chemistry and mineral
prospection as well as the archaeology of early European colonies in the New World. In particular, material culture can shed
fresh light on how European settlers reacted to the many challenges of a new and unfamiliar natural environment and how they
tried to make sense and exploit it for financial profit.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2018
Glass distillation equipment from an early modern alchemical laboratory was analyzed for its tech... more Glass distillation equipment from an early modern alchemical laboratory was analyzed for its technology of manufacture and potential origin. Chemical data show that the assemblage can be divided into sodium-rich, colorless distillation vessels made with glass from Venice or its European imitation, and potassium-rich dark-brown non-specialized forms produced within the technological tradition of forest glass typical for central and northwestern Europe. These results complete our understanding of the supply of technical apparatus at one of the best-preserved alchemical laboratories and highlight an early awareness of the need for high-quality instruments to guarantee the successful outcome of specialized chemical operations. This study demonstrates the potential of archaeological science to inform historical research around the practice of early chemistry and the development of modern science.
Journal of Glass Studies , 2019
Early prospection efforts in North America relied heavily on the use of crucibles to test suspect... more Early prospection efforts in North America relied heavily on the use of crucibles to test suspected valuable minerals for potential exploitation. This process, which is well known for metal ores, has also been proposed for glassmaking at colonial Jamestown. Here, we revisit a recent publication suggesting that certain Hessian crucibles from the site bore evidence for these glassmaking tests, and present new data on crucible operations at the site. We argue that the evidence is more consistent with testing ores for their precious metal content than with glassmaking. Despite this, the historical evidence for glassmaking tests in this early period remains strong, and further research may well identify its material remains. Jamestown The foundation of Jamestown in the spring of 1607 marked the first permanent English settlement in America and was driven by the expectation of great profit promised by the new and unspoiled land of Virginia. Besides the quest for precious metals and the hope of finding a cross-continental waterway that would provide access to the riches of the East, glassmaking was a major aim of the settlers because glass was at that time imported to England in large quantities and at great expense; the possibility of starting a glassmak-ing industry with local raw materials offered an opportunity to boost English production. James-town glass production has received some attention over the last decades, starting from the information that a "tryal of glasse" was made during the initial months of activity. 1 Unfortunately, nothing else is known about this glass except that it was shipped to London, presumably to be checked. During excavations of James Fort, the initial settlement of the Jamestown colonists, a large assemblage of workshop-related artifacts was unearthed from pre-1610 contexts. For the most part, these are triangular crucibles of the Hessian type, 2 and while many of them display clear traces of metal-lurgical activity, 3 some were interpreted as glass-making vessels. 4 In a recent paper, J. Victor Owen and two co-authors presented the results of their analytical study of a number of such suspected glass-related materials. 5 Besides fragments of glass cullet with a European composition that were probably brought to Virginia, they discuss three samples of glassy residues stuck to crucibles. (One additional sample Acknowledgments. We are very grateful to the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological project and to Merry
Freund, K.P., Amicone, S., Berthold, C., Tykot, R.H., Veronesi, U., and M.R. Manunza (2019). Early metallurgy in Sardinia: characterizing the evidence from Su Coddu Journal of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019
This paper contextualizes analyses of a collection of metal artifacts and ostensible metallurgica... more This paper contextualizes analyses of a collection of metal artifacts and ostensible metallurgical slag from the prehistoric settlement of Su Coddu in south-central Sardinia (ca. 3400-2850 BCE). To characterize the types of metals and associated alloys utilized by the earliest residents of Su Coddu, two pins and an unshaped lump of unknown composition were analyzed using portable XRF spectrometry. In addition to metal artifacts, a large quantity of putative slag was discovered at the site that is consistently cited as the earliest evidence of in situ smelting in prehistoric Sardinia. To reconstruct firing temperatures and characterize mineral phases, four samples of the overfired material were selected for thin section petrography and powder XRD analysis.
The results of this study indicate that the two pins were made of copper while the unshaped lump was composed of pure lead, making it the earliest lead-based artifact on Sardinia. XRD and petrographic analyses of the fired “slags” reveal that these samples are unrelated to metallurgical smelting and are likely burnt wall coatings whose mineralogical phases correspond with unfired plasters also recovered from the site. These results in combination contribute towards understanding early metallurgical practices in Sardinia and are relevant in reconstructing the events that have shaped the life history of Su Coddu.
Post-Medieval Archaeology, 2018
Blog posts by Umberto Veronesi
The Recipes Project. Food, Magic, Art, Science, and Medicine, 2019
The product of human ingenuity, glass perfectly embodies the alchemical power to imitate nature b... more The product of human ingenuity, glass perfectly embodies the alchemical power to imitate nature by art and since the Bronze Age it has proved an incredibly hard substance to classify. Although glass only requires sand, salts and the action of fire, a quick look at any recipe collection will reveal that glassmakers have used a vast array of ingredients depending on what materials were available to them and on the physico-chemical characteristics desired. Colours and opacity were provided by the addition of the right metallic oxides, but even a perfectly colourless glass required specific reagents.
Here, I am going to explore three 17th-century recipes for white enamels, what Venetians called lattimo. Enamels are glass pastes that could be coloured according to the need and then used as paint or to counterfeit gems. There are plenty of recipes out there, many are listed in Antonio Neri’ L’Arte Vetraria. However, in this post I am going to take my start from a different set of “primary” sources, namely the very crucibles used to manufacture white enamel at one of Europe’s leading chymical laboratories, the Old Ashmolean in Oxford.
History of Knowledge: Research, Resources, and Perspectives, 2018
From Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia through monk Theophilus’ twelfth century treatise De di... more From Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia through monk Theophilus’ twelfth century treatise De diversis artibus and up to Antonio Neri’s L’Arte vetraria, glassmaking recipes have occupied an important role in the written transmission of technological and natural knowledge. A review of the many recipes recorded in historical sources gives an impression of continuity, of a craft whose components have not changed much in the western tradition: silica, in the form of sand or quartz pebbles, was melted with the aid of fluxes, either mineral salts or vegetable ashes, and with stabilisers and colourants when these were needed. Books are often very detailed on which ingredients work best for the various purposes, and other technical details. Yet books cannot always tell the whole story. In fact, every practitioner would inevitably bring their own experience to the craft and different situations demanded specific adjustments to the procedure. Apart from rare cases, these stories are most of the time invisible if we constrain their sources to written documents alone. Fortunately, many surviving artefacts can help bridge this gap. Archaeometry, the scientific analysis of archaeological materials, is a powerful tool in the identification of raw materials and furnace procedures of glassmaking workshops, since the chemical composition of glass samples preserves a signature of everything that entered the initial batch. Comparing chemical analyses of archaeological glass to the study of historical recipes we obtain a richer picture; we can cast light on what specific choices were made in different contexts, and how these in turn interacted with the knowledge codified in books, whether they followed this closely or swayed away from it, creating new, uncodified knowledge. This paper will show the benefits of such a cross-disciplinary approach to the history of technology in the seventeenth century by bringing the example of Jamestown, Virginia, the first British colony in the US. The analysis of glassmaking remains recovered by archaeologists hints at an inter-craft dialogue, where by-products from mineral prospection were used as reagents for the production of experimental glasses. These results allow a privileged perspective into the efforts made by early colonists to produce glass using local raw materials, adaptations of their craft to a wholly new and exotic environment, and ultimately how they tweaked the codified knowledge to achieve their goal.
Thesis by Umberto Veronesi
The present PhD thesis focuses on the study of early modern laboratory apparatus, with the specif... more The present PhD thesis focuses on the study of early modern laboratory apparatus, with the specific aim of adopting a material culture-approach to the history of science and technology. This is achieved through the scientific analysis of two assemblages of crucibles and other reaction vessels, namely that of Jamestown in Virginia (early 17th century) and that of the Ashmolean laboratory in Oxford (late 17th-early 18th century). For each of these case studies the high-temperature activities carried out were reconstructed and contextualised. The analysis of the residues left by the chemical reactions, through optical microscopy and SEM-EDS, allowed to determine what substances were manipulated and what technical processes were followed. While the vast majority of the crucibles from Jamestown were used for testing minerals in search of metals of interest to the settlers, the practitioners at the Ashmolean were found to diversify their work and experiment with technological innovation of the period. As no direct relation exists between the case studies, each of them stands on its own and each brings a novel contribution to its specific historical and archaeological context However, taken together the two case studies illustrate the wider scope of this thesis by indicating the potential of a new methodological approach to the study of laboratory remains, which combines the information of archaeological science with current narratives in the historiography of early modern science. The results are used to build a materials-based network, which tells the story of scientific developments from the bottom up and throws new light on the practical side of doing science. Ultimately, this thesis crosses old disciplinary boundaries and adds new layers of interpretation to both disciplines it engages with.
Conference presentations by Umberto Veronesi
Alchemische Labore: Texte, Praktiken und materielle Hinterlassenschaften, 2023
The chemical analysis of an assemblage of glass fragments from the laboratory of Oberstockstall (... more The chemical analysis of an assemblage of glass fragments from the laboratory of Oberstockstall (Austria) revealed the supply pattern of glass apparatus. Expensive glass of high technical quality was reserved for distillation vessels, while non-specialised containers were made of a cheaper local glass. Besides completing our knowledge of the laboratory apparatus, the results also speak in favour of the importance of archaeology and material culture as a source of information in the history of science.
42 International Symposium of Archaeometry, 2018
The founding of Jamestown in the spring of 1607 was intended to bring great profit to the private... more The founding of Jamestown in the spring of 1607 was intended to bring great profit to the private investors of the newly born Virginia Company of London, who had obtained a royal charter for the use of the land. Contemporary sources highlight the optimism facing an unspoiled land offering unlimited natural resources waiting to be exploited. We know that artisanal experts sent to Virginia soon started to carry out tests and experiments seeking to initiate the first stable industrial effort in North America. Despite the initial enthusiasm, these initial attempts failed, which was blamed on ineptitude or indolence. Written documentation tends to be silent about the nature of the experiments. However, the large number of artefacts recovered archaeologically and related to high-temperature chemical operations tells us that there is more to it. Using the archaeometric analysis of an assemblage of laboratory crucibles as its starting point, the present paper aims to investigate the experimental efforts going on at Jamestown as they become visible through the lenses of material culture. The crucible fragments and inner residue layers were subjected to microanalysis for compositional and microstructural information. The SEM-EDS results indicate that metalliferous ore prospection and the production of experimental glass dominate the assemblage, including tests on complex sulphides to assess silver content, attempts at making brass possibly using a local mineral, and the addition of feldspars possibly recycled from metallurgical operations in order to make glass. These results therefore reveal a stunning variety of inventive chemical operations and signs of cross-craft interaction, all indicative of the highly experimental nature that characterised early European industrial ventures in the New World. These results challenge the long-held idea of incompetence as the main cause of failure and suggest that Jamestown specialists were active in making the most out of what was available despite the innumerable difficulties, from starvation and illness to attacks from local populations. On a methodological level, the present paper demonstrates that a material-based approach can indeed complement the information available in the documents even when this is abundant, and provide avenues to explore wider issues of the early modern world.
Defining early modern scientific workspaces is a complex and thought-provoking task that in turn ... more Defining early modern scientific workspaces is a complex and thought-provoking task that in turn has intersected with attempts to better understand and characterise early modern science in general. In the 16th century experiments aimed at grasping the secrets of nature and making sense of the natural world were carried on alongside industrial efforts to produce profitable goods, new substances and better medicines. These activities required specific workspaces, which in this period could span from al/chemical laboratories to the workshops of artisans and assayers, with the boundaries between these spheres often being very blurred. Besides the physical place itself, an essential component of such workspaces was the right equipment, as testified in several recipe books and technical manuals indicating how the choice of the tools was crucial to the success of the laboratory operations. Examples of such equipment abound in contemporary written and iconographic sources and have often been recovered from archaeological excavations of alchemical laboratories and metallurgical workshops. The archaeometric analysis of these remains offers the chance to investigate early scientific workspaces through the lens of their material culture. Examples of such an approach have mainly focused on ceramic equipment like crucibles and cupels, but we still know virtually nothing about the glass apparatus, despite the crucial importance this type of equipment had. This paper addresses the issue of the construction of scientific workspaces in the early modern period starting from the analysis of glass finds recovered from the alchemical laboratory at Oberstockstall, Austria. The study revealed that among the types of glass available in the period and area in question, laboratory practitioners tended to use high quality material for their vials and distillation flasks, with cheaper glasses being chosen for objects that did not require specific characteristics. Being able to properly see inside of the vessels during chemical operations was an essential requirement which only the high transparency and thin bodies of Venetian glass or its imitation could grant. This paper is intended to highlight the informative potential archaeological objects hold in the study of scientific workspaces in providing a material counterpart to the information obtained via other sources.
This project focuses on the analysis of twenty fragments of stained window glass excavated in a F... more This project focuses on the analysis of twenty fragments of stained window glass excavated in a French monastic site and dated between the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th century AD. On a large number of pieces some red traces are visible, very powdery and prone to detach. The main focus of the study was the investigation of the nature and function of these traces, whether they were added intentionally or are the result of post-depositional processes and whether they could be associated with a specific technological tradition. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis showed that the red traces are an intentional mixture of a red iron-rich pigment and a calcium-rich material. An initial interpretation as a painted decorative layer on the glass has later been ruled out owing to their extremely detachable nature and the fact that they would not transmit light, an essential feature of coloured decoration in windows. Thanks to the testimony of Theophilus, who wrote in the early twelfth century, it has been possible to interpret the traces as the outlines drawn upon the glass to guide the cutting of the pieces according to an underlying design painted on a board beneath the glass. The fact that paint compositions are not standardized supports this interpretation as they only had a functional value and the glassworkers did not need precise recipes and corresponding ratios of chemical elements. Coupled with the use of a potash-lime-silica glass for the windows, and several examples of fused lead-silicate grisaille paint, this assemblage demonstrates the very early development of a window technology which is traditionally associated with the high medieval period.
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Journal articles by Umberto Veronesi
between historians, archaeologists, and materials scientists.
The aim of the study is to explore the range of chemical operations carried out at the site of the first permanent British settlement
in America, for which little is known in the documents. The results show that the colonists used high-quality Hessian crucibles to
perform tests on different types of complex polymetallic sulphides. This was done to (1) prospect for potential silver and copper
ores and (2) to find suitable sources of zinc and tin to be alloyed into brass and bronze through cementation with imported copper
offcuts. This study makes a relevant contribution to the growing field of the archaeology of early chemistry and mineral
prospection as well as the archaeology of early European colonies in the New World. In particular, material culture can shed
fresh light on how European settlers reacted to the many challenges of a new and unfamiliar natural environment and how they
tried to make sense and exploit it for financial profit.
The results of this study indicate that the two pins were made of copper while the unshaped lump was composed of pure lead, making it the earliest lead-based artifact on Sardinia. XRD and petrographic analyses of the fired “slags” reveal that these samples are unrelated to metallurgical smelting and are likely burnt wall coatings whose mineralogical phases correspond with unfired plasters also recovered from the site. These results in combination contribute towards understanding early metallurgical practices in Sardinia and are relevant in reconstructing the events that have shaped the life history of Su Coddu.
Blog posts by Umberto Veronesi
Here, I am going to explore three 17th-century recipes for white enamels, what Venetians called lattimo. Enamels are glass pastes that could be coloured according to the need and then used as paint or to counterfeit gems. There are plenty of recipes out there, many are listed in Antonio Neri’ L’Arte Vetraria. However, in this post I am going to take my start from a different set of “primary” sources, namely the very crucibles used to manufacture white enamel at one of Europe’s leading chymical laboratories, the Old Ashmolean in Oxford.
Thesis by Umberto Veronesi
Conference presentations by Umberto Veronesi
between historians, archaeologists, and materials scientists.
The aim of the study is to explore the range of chemical operations carried out at the site of the first permanent British settlement
in America, for which little is known in the documents. The results show that the colonists used high-quality Hessian crucibles to
perform tests on different types of complex polymetallic sulphides. This was done to (1) prospect for potential silver and copper
ores and (2) to find suitable sources of zinc and tin to be alloyed into brass and bronze through cementation with imported copper
offcuts. This study makes a relevant contribution to the growing field of the archaeology of early chemistry and mineral
prospection as well as the archaeology of early European colonies in the New World. In particular, material culture can shed
fresh light on how European settlers reacted to the many challenges of a new and unfamiliar natural environment and how they
tried to make sense and exploit it for financial profit.
The results of this study indicate that the two pins were made of copper while the unshaped lump was composed of pure lead, making it the earliest lead-based artifact on Sardinia. XRD and petrographic analyses of the fired “slags” reveal that these samples are unrelated to metallurgical smelting and are likely burnt wall coatings whose mineralogical phases correspond with unfired plasters also recovered from the site. These results in combination contribute towards understanding early metallurgical practices in Sardinia and are relevant in reconstructing the events that have shaped the life history of Su Coddu.
Here, I am going to explore three 17th-century recipes for white enamels, what Venetians called lattimo. Enamels are glass pastes that could be coloured according to the need and then used as paint or to counterfeit gems. There are plenty of recipes out there, many are listed in Antonio Neri’ L’Arte Vetraria. However, in this post I am going to take my start from a different set of “primary” sources, namely the very crucibles used to manufacture white enamel at one of Europe’s leading chymical laboratories, the Old Ashmolean in Oxford.