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| mummy brown | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mummy Brown |
| Type | Historical pigment |
| Main components | Desiccated human remains, bitumen, resins |
| First recorded | 12th–16th century trade references; commercialized 16th–19th centuries |
| Regions | Europe, Egypt, Levant |
mummy brown
Mummy brown was a historical brown pigment sold to artists from the early modern period through the 19th century, derived in part from desiccated human remains obtained from Egypt and other regions. It featured in palettes used by Titian, Rembrandt, Francisco Goya, and later by Eugène Delacroix and Victorian-era painters, while also entering discussions in institutions such as the British Museum and the Louvre. The pigment intersected with trade routes connecting Venice, Alexandria, and London and with collectors including Thomas Jefferson and Catherine the Great.
Commercial demand for the pigment grew alongside European interest in Renaissance antiquities and Orientalism from the 16th century onward. Traders in Venice and Marseille supplied materials drawn from Egyptian embalming practices collected after the Ottoman–Mamluk wars and later during the Napoleonic Expedition to Egypt. The pigment’s trade was recorded in inventories of Habsburg and Medici collections and influenced markets in Paris, Amsterdam, and London as archaeological and antiquarian tastes—exemplified by figures like Giovanni Battista Belzoni and Edward William Lane—expanded. Institutional actors such as the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London debated authenticity and provenance as private dealers and apothecaries commodified remains.
Mummy brown was prepared by grinding desiccated human tissue—often from Egyptian mummies—together with hydrocarbons like asphalt or bitumen, and organic binders such as gum arabic or linseed oil. Preparers included pigment merchants, apothecaries, and artists’ colormakers in cities like Florence, Vienna, and Berlin. Analytical work by chemists in the 19th and 20th centuries—laboratories at institutions such as the Royal Society and the Smithsonian Institution—identified components including proteins, lipids, and aromatic hydrocarbons similar to petroleum derivatives. Producers adjusted recipes with substances referenced in trade manuals used by Cennino Cennini–era workshops and later by industrial color firms like Winsor & Newton to modify drying times and chroma.
Artists used the pigment for underpainting, glazes, and flesh tones in works by Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velázquez, and Édouard Manet; it was valued for its warm, translucent brown suitable for shadows and glazing in oil on canvas and egg tempera techniques linked to workshops influenced by Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer. Commercial manufacturers supplied the pigment to decorative painters and conservators working on panels in collections such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Prado Museum. Beyond easel painting, it appeared in varnishes and certain coordinating uses in theatrical set design in cities like London and New York City, where stagecraft suppliers also imported exotic materials for realism favored by directors associated with the Victorian era and the Gilded Age.
Awareness that the pigment derived from human remains provoked moral and aesthetic disputes involving writers, scientists, and clergy from the Enlightenment through the Victorian period. Critics including journalists in the Times of London and pamphleteers tied to reform movements objected on grounds invoked by religious authorities in dioceses under the Church of England and the Catholic Church. Antiquarians such as Aubertin and collectors like Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin figured in controversies over the removal and commercial use of artifacts and human remains; debates echoed in legal actions and parliamentary inquiries in Britain and public commentaries by novelists like Charles Dickens. The pigment became a symbol in discussions of imperialism and collecting practices associated with the British Empire and the French colonial empire.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, growing ethical concerns, changing scientific analyses by chemists at universities such as University of Cambridge and Sorbonne, and the development of reliable synthetic and earth pigments reduced demand. Manufacturers like Winsor & Newton and industrial chemists associated with DuPont and BASF developed browns—burnt umber, raw umber, van dyke brown alternatives—and synthetic organic pigments (azo and phthalocyanine classes) that matched hue and permanence without ethical issues. Museums and conservation laboratories at institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Getty Conservation Institute catalogued instances of historical use and promoted substitutes for restorations.
Conservators and curators at the British Museum, National Gallery, London, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston address the presence of historical specimens containing human-derived pigments during treatment, research, and display. Ethical frameworks developed by organizations like the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and national guidelines—paralleling repatriation discussions involving the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and restitution cases involving the Benin Bronzes—guide decisions about handling human-derived material. Scientific techniques—chromatography, mass spectrometry, and amino acid analysis practiced at laboratories affiliated with Oxford University and the Max Planck Society—help identify biological components, informing conservation strategies that balance material integrity, legal obligations, and cultural sensitivities.
Category:Historical pigments Category:Art conservation