If you have corrections or suggestions for any of the Essential Vermeer Online Bibliographies, please send them to the author and webmaster of this site, jonathanjanson@essentialvermeer.com.

Drawing and painting manuals emerged as practical guides for artists, often aimed at teaching techniques, styles, and methods for creating art. These manuals became especially prominent during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, reflecting a growing emphasis on systematic training and the professionalization of the arts.

Such manuals often provided step-by-step instructions, covering topics like proportions, anatomy, shading, color mixing, and compositional balance. Early examples included works like Cennino Cennini's Il Libro dell’Arte (c. 1390), which combined medieval techniques with Renaissance innovations. During the Baroque period, manuals expanded to include more sophisticated methods for capturing light, perspective, and naturalistic detail.

These texts were widely disseminated, thanks in part to the printing press, and reached audiences across Europe and beyond. They were used by apprentices in workshops, members of emerging academies, and amateur artists. Drawing and painting manuals not only standardized artistic practices but also democratized knowledge, influencing the development of art for centuries.


Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

  • BAKKENIST, T., R. Hoppenbrouwers and H. Dubois, eds., Early Italian Paintings, Techniques and Analysis. Proceedings of the Symposium held at the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg, Maastricht, 9–10 October, 1996.
  • BEAL, Mary. Study of Richard Symonds: His Italian Notebooks and their Relevance to Seventeenth-Century Painting Techniques. New York: Garland, 1984.
  • BERGER, Ernst. Quellen fur Maltechnik wahrend der Renaissance und deren Folgezeit. Munich, 1901, reprint 1973. Contains de Mayerne MS, 99–364.
  • BOK, Martin Jan. "The Artist's Working Method," in Jan Steen, Painter and Storyteller. exh. cat., National Gallery of Art and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Washington and Amsterdam, 1996, 86–87.
  • BOERSMA, Annetje. "Dou's Painting Technique: An Examination of Two Paintings," in Gerrit Dou, Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., ed., exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington (New Haven: Yale University Press): 2000, 54–63.
  • BOL, Marjolijn A. H. Oil and the Translucent: Varnishing and Glazing in Practice, Recipes and Historiography, 1100–1600. PhD diss., Utrecht University, 2012.
  • BOMFORD David, Christopher Brown and Ashok Roy. Art in the Making: Rembrandt (London: National Gallery) 1988.[Glossary 144–147; Bibliographical Appendix on Training of Artists and Practice of Painting, 48–149; Select Bibliography, 150–153; Technical Literature, 154–155.
  • BRUSATI, Celeste. Artifice and illusion: The Art and Writing of Samuel van Hoogstraten. Chicago: University. of Chicago Press, 1995.
  • BUCKLOW, Spike. The Alchemy of Paint: Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages, London, 2009.
  • DI CICCO, Fabio, Lisa WIERSMA, et al. “Material Properties and Image Cues for Convincing Grapes: The Know-How of the 17th-Century Pictorial Recipe by Willem Beurs.” Art & Perception, 2020.
  • DOERNER, Max.The Materials of the Artist and their use in Painting (New York: Harcourt Brace) 1934, 1984.
  • DUIJN, Eddy E. van. "All That Glitters Is Not Gold: The Depiction of Gold-Brocaded Velvets in Fifteenth- and Early Sixteenth-Century Netherlandish Paintings." PhD diss., University of Amsterdam, 2013.
  • DUNKERTON, Jill, Susan Foister and Nicholas Penny, Durer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Painting in the National Gallery (New Haven and London: Yale Univ. Press and National Gallery Publications Ltd.) 1999. [especially chapters 6 through 9] 3
  • EASTLAKE, C. L., Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great Schools and Masters, 2 vols., London 1847, reprint, New York, 1960.
  • FELLER, Robert L. (vol.1), Ashok Roy, (vol.2), and Elizabeth West Fitzhugh (vol. 3), eds., Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of their History and Characteristics, 3 vols. (vol.1, Cambridge and Washington: Cambridge University Press and National Gallery of Art) 1986; (vol.2, Washington and New York: National Gallery of Art and Oxford University Press) 1993; (vol.3, Washington and New York: National Gallery of Art and Oxford University Press) 1997.
  • FUCCI, Rocco. “Parrhasius and the Art of Display: The Illusionistic Curtain in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting.” In Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art / Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek: Arts of Display, vol. 65, edited by H. Perry Chapman, Frits Scholten, and Joanna Woodall, 144–75. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
  • GETTENS, Rutherford J. and George L. Stout. Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopaedia. New York: Dover, 1942, 1966.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Style and Technique in Dutch Landscape Painting." Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice, edited by Arie Wallert, Erma Hermens. (1995): 140–147.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Esaias van de Velde's Technical Innovations: Translating a Graphic Tradition into Paint." In Painting Techniques: History, Materials, and Studio Practice, IIC 1998 Dublin Congress, edited by Ashok Roy, and Perry Smith, 145–149. London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC), 1998.

    GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Painting Light: Recent Observations on Vermeer's Painting Technique." In New Vermeer Studies, Studies in the History of Art, vol. 55, edited by Ivan Gaskell, and Michiel Jonker, 185–199. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1998.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Landscape Painting Style and Technique: Fidelity to the 16th Century Tradition in Early 17th Century Landscape Production." In Colloque XII pour l'étude du dessin sous-jacent et de la technologie dans la peinture, edited by R. van Schoute, and H. Verougstraete, 177–188. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters, 1999.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Evocation and Representation: Rembrandt's Landscape Painting Technique." In exh. cat. Rembrandt's Landscapes, edited by Christaan Vogelaar, and Gregor J. M. Weber, 120–143. Leiden: Stedelijk Museum het Lakenhal, 2006.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Lievens' Technique: Wonders in Smeared Paint, Varnishes and Oils." In exh. cat. Jan Lievens: A Master Rediscovered, edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., 40–53. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2008.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Fine Painting and Eloquent Imprecision: Gabriel Metsu's Painting Technique." In Gabriel Metsu, edited by Adriaan E. Waiboer, 154–179. Dublin: Yale University Press, 2010.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie, Anikó Bezúr, Andrea Guidi di Bagno, and Lisha Deming Glinsman. "The Making of a Luxury Image: Van Aelst's Painting Materials and Artistic Techniques." In exh. cat. Elegance and Refinement: The Still-life Paintings of Willem van Aelst, edited by Tanya Paul, 66–89. Houston and Washington: Houston Museum of Fine Arts and National Gallery of Art, 2012.
  • GIFFORD, E. Melanie. "Material as Metaphor: Non-conscious Thinking in Seventeenth Century Painting Practice." In Studying Old Master Paintings—Technology and Practice, edited by Marika Spring, 165–172. London: Archetype Publications, 2011.
  • GRAAF VAN DE, J. A. Het De Mayerne Manuscript als Bron Voor de Schildertechnick van de Barok, Mijdrecht, 1958.
  • GROEN, Karen and Ella Hendriks, "Frans Hals: Technical Examination," in S. Slive, ed. Frans Hals, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Royal Academy, Frans Halsmuseum, Washington, London and Haarlem, 1989–1990, 109–127.
  • HARLEY, Rosamund, Artists' Pigments c. 1600–1835: A Study in English Documentary Sources, 2nd ed., London: Bufferworth Scientific, 1982.
  • HOWARD, Helen, David Peggie and Rachel Billinge. "Vermeer and Technique." National Gallery website. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/about-research/the-meaning-of-making/vermeer-and-technique

Recommended Vermeer Reading

Pieter Roelofs and Gregor Weber, Vermmer Vermeer
Pieter Roelofs & Gregor Weber
2023
Vermeer in Detail
Garry Schwartz
2017
Wayne Franits, Vermeer Vermeer (Art and Ideas)
Wayne Franits
2015
Vermeer: The Complete Paintings, Walter Liedtke Vermeer: The Complete Paintings
Walter Liedtke
2008
Vermeer, John Nash Vermeer
John Nash
2002
Vermeer and the Delft School, Walter LiedtkeVermeer and the Delft School
Walter Liedtke 2001
Vermeer: The Complete Works, Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
Vermeer: The Complete Works
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
1997
Johannes Vermeer, Arthur K. Wheelock Jr."
Johannes Vermeer
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
1995
Vermeer Studies, ed. Ivan Gaskell & Micheal Jonker
Vermeer Studies
ed. Ivan Gaskell & Micheal Jonker
1995
Vermeer and the Art of Painting, Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
Vermeer and the Art of Painting
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
1995
Vermeer, Martin Bailey
Vermeer
Martin Bailey
1995
Vermeer, Lawrence Gowing
Vermeer
Lawrence Gowing
1970