Slide 1
A glaze lets earlier colour show through
A glaze is a transparent or translucent paint layer. It changes the colour beneath while allowing that earlier layer to remain visible.
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The National Gallery distinguishes a glaze from an opaque covering. The visual result depends on both layers together, so the top pigment alone cannot explain the final colour.
Slide 2
Light passing through layers can deepen colour
A thin glaze over a lighter passage can deepen its colour without hiding the modelling already painted into the form.
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Raphael used layered applications of blue, including ultramarine glazes. A blue robe can therefore involve several painting decisions rather than one evenly applied mixture.
Slide 3
Varying thickness changes the glaze across a surface
A glaze does not have to form an identical film everywhere. Its thickness can vary across the underlying painted surface.
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Where paint follows surface relief, some areas can accumulate a different depth of glaze. Texture and colour are consequently linked, even when the subject appears smoothly modelled.
Slide 4
A partly opaque scumble changes the effect
A light, partly opaque layer brushed over darker paint is called a scumble. It modifies the surface through a different optical effect.
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The terms describe how a layer functions, rather than naming a pigment. The same colour material can produce different effects when its concentration, thickness and surroundings change.
Slide 5
The finished colour conceals a sequence of layers
A finished oil painting can combine opaque paint and transparent layers. Looking at its colour alone does not reveal every stage of making.
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Technical study compares the visible image with evidence from its materials. Raphael's paintings show why understanding a painter's palette also requires attention to the medium and layer structure.
Sources
- Glaze glossary
National Gallery
- Studying Raphael: pigments and medium
National Gallery