Painting by numbers, Evolution and standardisation of colouring in the seventeenth century

Skilful material depiction is one of the main stylistic features of seventeenth-century Netherlandish art. Where sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century painters were experimenting with colour combinations for material depiction, Dutch artist and teacher Willem Beurs could write a book containing standardized reci- pes for marvelously animated surfaces and ideal appear- ances in 1692, The Big World Painted Small. His method corresponds with the techniques of the best artists of his time. This paper demonstrates the development of successful colour combinations, juxtapositions and layer- ing. The depiction of grapes serves as an example to contribute to our understanding of the ‘tangible style’: paintings showing convincing material depiction, which emerged from technical abilities and practice, and which was achieved in the course of the seventeenth century through standardization of complex painting techniques.