Vandyke Brown

Natural organic pigment

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Composition and Properties of Vandyke Brown

Vandyke brown is an organic natural pigment consisting of materials found in brown coal, peat or generally in soil. Considerable confusion can be found in the older mentions of this pigment. It had been considered an inorganic iron pigment mainly in France and its name had also been used for various earth pigments such as umber and ochres.

Its color can vary according to the thickness of the painted layer and ranges from pure black with a reddish-violet tint to grayish brown. The main chemical component of this pigment are humic acids and as such, they react with alkalis. The pigment is not stable to light and fades over time. This is mainly due to the oxidation of the organic material on air which is facilitated by light. The pigment is compatible with all other pigments and is often used in mixture with several other pigments.

vandyke-brown-crystals

Pigment

vandyke-brown-painted-swatch

Painted swatch

Names 

Alternative names

Cologne earth, Cassel earth

Color Index

NBr 8, CI 77727

Word origin

Named after the painter Anthony Van Dyck. 

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Kasslerbraun

German

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Terre de Cologne, terre de Cassel

French

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Terra di Colonia, terra di Cassel

Italian

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Carmelita van Dyck, tierra de Cassel

Spanish

Preparation 

The main deposits of Vandyke brown are in Germany in the region of Cologne. The pigment is prepared from the raw material by drying and grounding.

History of Use 

The pigment had been in use since the Renaissance period.

Examples of use

Rembrandt van Rijn, Saskia van Ulyenburgh as Flora, 1641

 

 

4 Green-brown background: yellow ochre, bone black, lead white and Vandyke brown.

Rembrandt,-Saskia-as-Flora_pigments_4

Identification

Fiber optics reflectance spectra (FORS)
IR Spectrum

(1) Elofson, R. M., The Infrared Spectra of Humic Acids and Related Materials, Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 35, 1957, 926-31

X-Ray Fluorescence Spektrum (XRF)

XRF Spectrum in the Free XRF Spectroscopy Database of Pigments Checker, CHSOS website.

vandyke-brown-microphotograph

Microphotograph

image © Volker Emrath

Further Reading

References

(1) Feller, R., and Johnston-Feller, R.M: Vandyke Brown, in  Artists’ Pigments, A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol 3: E.W. Fitzhugh (Ed.) Oxford University Press 1997, p. 157 – 190. Available as pdf from the National Gallery of Art

(2)  Helwig, K. Iron Oxide Pigments, in Berrie, B.H. Editor, Artists’ Pigments, A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Volume 4, pp. 38-109.

(3) S. Muntwyler, J. Lipscher, HP. Schneider, Das Farbenbuch, 2nd. Ed., 2023, alataverlag Elsau, pp. 158-159.