gelber ochre

[Macree]

Dear George,
I am looking for gelber ochre , or the nearrest thing - what would you suggest? I had some old hand-me-down container of it with no label- not sure where it was bought, but it has a very nice tone, and I have used it already for a series of fresco panels, and would like to find more for continuity.
Thank you!

PS- isn't the fresco being done now mostly italian style? ( using byzantine subjects,) but not open for the time that real byzantine fresco was? (That's what I had understood from fresco painters I met in Greece)

[George O'Hanlon]

Gelber ochre or as it is spelled correctly in German "Gelber Ocker" is simply yellow ochre. There are many different variations of yellow ochre, so it would be impossible to say what you had unnless you can match a sample to another ochre. Natural Pigments stocks quite a number of yellow ochres, so perhaps you can find one that matches your Gelber Ocker.

In regards to the subject of frescoes, if you are referring to painting styles and not painting techniques, whether frescoes today are painted in the true Italian or Byzantine style is somewhat of a ludicrous claim, because no one today paints in these genuine styles. Although they may appear similar they have changed. The term "Byzantine style" may also be elusive, because there were many variations of this style. This becomes apparent when you compare the wall paintings in churches in Cappadocia, even after you eliminate the obvious Armenian and Syrian styles.