St. Stephen

Two types of gold appear on this miniature of St Stephen from a choirbook illuminated in Prague about 1405. The background of frenzied cockatrices behind the saint is painted with liquid or 'shell' gold, applied probably with a pen. But the halo and the surround are of burnished gold, applied as a leaf laid over raised gesso. This has been nit only burnished to a high finish but also stamped on top with delicate pattens. Christopher De Hamel:"Medieval Craftsmen-Scribes And Illumunators" (London:British Museum Press,1992,1999 Sixth impression.) p.58