Renaissance Colour: Innovation, Theory and Practic with Dr Paula Nuttall

What distinguishes Renaissance colour from that of the Middle Ages?  Although pigments were mostly the same as in the earlier period, the expectations of painting, and its colouristic potential, changed significantly between 1400 and 1600.  Responding to the new emphasis on the ‘imitation of nature’ i.e. the lifelike representation of light, form and space, artists such as Van Eyck and Piero della Francesca explored new ways of employing and applying colour, aided by technical developments, notably oil painting.  Concomitantly, the evolution of art theory prompted new approaches to colour, beginning with Alberti in 1430s Florence, through to Leonardo’s almost colourless tonal unity (sfumato) and its polar opposite, the ‘unnatural’ colour of Mannerist painters such as Pontormo; and the highly consequential sixteenth-century Italian debate on the merits of ‘colour’ versus ‘drawing’, exemplified by the paintings of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian.

We shall also consider Renaissance colour in a wider context, including the relationship between pigments and trade, and Venice’s special status as a hub.  How did people experience colour in the everyday, for instance in churches, in a period that saw a shift from lavish late Gothic polychromy to colouristic restraint?   How was colour used to make social distinctions through dress?  How did painters use colour in composition?  How do pigments react and change over time, affecting how we see Renaissance paintings today?  

In venue (Winchester) and online via Zoom

Part of the 2026 Jean Bolton Memorial Study Course Colour in Art.  

Course Outline:

Colour has a profound impact on our perceptions, attention, experiences and emotions making it a powerful element in life and in the arts.  This series of lectures seeks to explore the role and impact of colour in different periods of history and geographical locations as well as identifying the sources, composition and development of artistic materials.  We will also explore the symbolism, meaning and spiritual significance of colour. Examples will demonstrate the power of colour to attract and focus attention, express and impact emotion, intensify experience, and communicate non-verbally.  The series will also explore the varying status and importance of colour verses drawing and line and variations including: vibrant v. muted, oil pigments v. egg tempera, watercolour and fresco and the development of materials over the historical periods.  In some sessions attention will also be given to the particular role of Venice as a supplier of pigments and source of important developments. Links between the concept of colour in visual, musical and auditory art forms will be made in some sessions.  The 5 study days will cover the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods in Western European Art together with the Nineteenth century in Western and Eastern European Art.  

You can book for the whole course or just individual days. The course consists of 5 days as follows:

• Thursday 29th October 2026 - Art and Colour in the Middle Ages with Dr Sally Dormer
• Friday 6th November 2026 - Renaissance Colour: Innovation, Theory and Practice with Dr Paula Nuttall
• Friday 13th November 2026 - From Caravaggio to Caspar David Friedrich: Colour in Art in the 17th and 18th Centuries with Clare Ford-Wille
• Friday 20th November 2026 - Innovations in Colour: European Painting and Sculpture, 1800-1900 with Dr Kathy McLauchlan
• Thursday 26th November 2026 - From the Red Corner to the Green Stripe: The Colours of Ukrainian and Russian Art with Dr Rosamund Bartlett