[MR] Anniversary of Vesuvius erpuption

[Stefan li Rous]

Hrothny said:
<<< What I found the most interesting (having been an avid reader of  
Herculeum
finds all of my life) was the bit about the fresco painters, and their  
pots
of paint. I had just caught up on a discussion on another list where  
some
writers had posited that medieval folks didn't have sufficient sources  
for
large amounts of paint to be used on walls and such, especially the  
colors
green and blue, and there, in Herculeum, were painter's pots with those
colours and more. It was a set of Crayola bowls, almost. >>>

Maybe.

A lot of techniques and trade sources were lost between Classical  
Roman times, which I would include 79 AD in, and medieval times.  
Without more specifics I don't think we can assume that an item common  
in this dig was also available, much less common in medieval times,  
especially at a different area of Europe.

The problem of "medieval Europe" is that generalities almost always  
have exceptions.  It's one of the reasons I have problems with people  
simply saying something is "period". Just because something is  
"period" for someone in 1595, it doesn't mean it was "period" for  
someone in 1150 or in 79 AD even in the same area.

Stefan

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****