Boiled Bunnies = Art History?

On the first day of my first art history class, I learned about boiled bunnies. Ok, what I really learned was that in Europe during the late 14th Century, boys as young as 8 were sent to live with artists to work and learn as apprentices. These novice boys were assigned the task of making gesso to whitewash and smooth the wood panels used for painting. And what is gesso? A mixture of limestone and rabbit skin – or as my professor called it – bunny glue. The rabbit skin was used as a binder, similar to other animal-based glues. By boiling the limestone and rabbit skin together apprentices could create the liquid gesso. (Don’t worry; a quick Google search will give you tons of vegan gesso substitutes.)

My professor’s playful expressions kept class interesting and made important facts easier to retain. I will never forget the “boiled bunnies” lesson, and I want to make art history just as memorable for other people. Check out my About page to learn more about how this blog got its name. But, for now, here’s a recap of that first “boiled bunnies” lesson.

Our Setting

The art movement occurring in Europe during the late 14th Century was known as the International Gothic Style. At this time, the Church was the notable economic, social, and political power, and thus the main consumer of art. Altarpieces were commonly commissioned as a visual for the illiterate masses to focus on while the priest preached in Latin – the language of the educated. If you were stuck in a stuffy room and forced to listen to gibberish for hours, you’d want something to look at too. The Church used this as an opportunity to emphasize their core theologies through didactic imagery.

Dijon Altarpiece by Melchior Broederlam

The Creation of an Altarpiece

1. An 8 year-old boy is sent to live and work with a master painter. He is given one pair of shoes and two shirts for his 10 years as an apprentice.

2. His first task is to cut down a tree. The wood is put in a smokehouse for 7-10 years to cure (dry.) 

3. Dry panels are prepped with the gesso that the apprentice made from his boiled bunnies.

4. The young apprentice is sent to the apothecary for pigment stones. He grinds them into a powder and mixes them with linseed oil to make paint. Oil paint would spoil quickly, so the apprentice had to be careful to only mix what was needed for the day.

5. The master painter draws an under-drawing on the prepped panel according to the patron’s request.

6. Older apprentices paint the initial layers, which use more oil and less pigment, known as a wash or glaze. The layers are gradually built up. Each layer takes up to a week to dry.

7. The master paints the final layers and finishing touches with pigment-rich paint.

8. The altarpiece dries for a year, is varnished, and then sent to the patron. 

Final Thoughts

The artistic workshop was common well into the Renaissance. Patrons were well aware that they were paying simply for the master’s idea, while knowing he would likely never touch the painting itself. Sometimes, prices were negotiated based on how much work the master was personally going to put into the painting. 

Since this was my first lesson in art history, I simply accepted the workshop process as historical fact. But now, I can’t think about historic art workshops without connecting them to Jeff Koons. I cannot ignore that people still revere the historic painters that worked in this way, yet contemporary workshop artists, like Jeff Koons, are freely criticized for profiting off the work of their studio artists. Koons takes all the credit for his workers, but most historic workshop artists also go unnamed unless they were a favorite assistant or went on to be masters themselves. I guess the major difference is that master painters were teaching their apprentices along the way, while Koons is only the “idea man” and depends on sourcing his projects to skilled artists to see his vision come true. I am still torn on the issue, so if you have an opinion, please indulge me in a discussion below.


Sources:

Doot Bokelman, "Art History Survey II" (lecture, Nazareth College, Rochester, NY, Spring 2012).