The Elk Mountain pilot. [volume] (Irwin, (Ruby Camp), Gunnison County, Colo.) 1880-19??, 1919-06-05
Strange Sources From Which
Pigments Used by Modern
Painters Are Derived.
PRESERVATION OF SURFACES
Crude but Effective Processes Employ.
ed by the Egyptians and Greeks Of
Pliny's Day-Noah Prudentiy
Waterproofed tho Ark.


meet oesire ior oeauty - question
fuiiy as knotty as the ancient one ABOUT
the relative time of arrival OF the
chicken or the egg. 1t was invented
though, and 1t serves both purposes
equally: so whether It is an offspring
~ mother ,oc.s.,tx or On odort.d con
=. 49,. s,.nu,oa
ques''on
Inc hrst men, covering unuer INC
nerce and glaring suns OF the biblical
countries, constructed rude huts Of
wood to shelter them. The perlshabls
nature of these structures caused rapid
decay. and II is probable that the oc-
cunants seeking some ARTIFICIAL means
=, n,.sar,,a.,o, III. r,o, III. r,,rant.
~. 80. ~ ~
y. '"e ea.u - e"en .e PC.
maps na'urAi :" suppose e"a. was
the instinct OF preservation tnat leu
men to the search. although the glories
of the sunsets and the beauties Of the
rainbow may have created desire to
initiate those wonders In their own
dwellings.
ton of a preservative to a wooden
structure dates from the ark. which
was, according to the Bible. pitched
within and without" The pitch was
triumph Of preservation whatever 1t
lacked as a thing Of beauty.
Decoration applied to buildings first
comes to light with ancient Babylon,
whose walls were covered with repre-
sensations of hunting scenes and Of
combat. These were done in red and
the method followed was to paint tho
scene on the bricks at the time Of
manufacture, assuring permanence BY
baking. Strictly speaking, this was
not painting so much as it was the
earliest manifestation Of our own IA
miliar kalsomininc.
The first Hebrew to mention paint
ing is Moses. In the thirty-third chap.
ter of the book of Numbers he in
atructs the IsraelItes. "When We have
nassed over the Jordan into the land
Of Canaan. then shall We drive out all
the inhabitants of the land from be-
fore YOU and destroy all their pic
ture,
A. later neriods the Jews adopted
many customs of the peopIes who sue
cossive,v ohta,ned mower over them
and In tbe snocrvnhal book of the
Maccabee. ia found this allusion to
tho .rt ~ decorating "For a. tho mas.
-, builder ~ . nev hons. nu.t "a IA.
for the whole building. but he that
undertateth to act n ont and paint II.
must .eek ont thinpa for the Adjoining
thor.oF"
Anhouoh Homer ~,ve. c,ed,t m .
Creeh for the DISCOVERY NJ paint. tho
aI,usion. n n in the hook. of Moses.
the nainted mummy case. NJ the Euvn.
ti.ns and the decorated wall, of Baby.
ion snd Thehe. AZ n, origin of
r.r,od ,on1 antecedent to the CrecIan
a., The vail. NJ Thehe. we're naInt.
ed loo years before the coming of
christ and aaa wear. before ..Omer
smots MI. bloom,n' Ivre"
The Greek. recopnized the value NJ
psint aa a preseryatiye and made use
Of something akin to II on their ships.
Pliny writes of the mode of boiling
wax and painting ships with 1t. after
which. he continues. "peither the sea.
nor the wind, nor the sun can destroy
the wood thus protected"
The Romans, being essentially Z
warlike people, never brought the dec
Grafton of buildings to the high plane
It had reached with the Greeks. For
all that the ruins of Pompeii show
many structures whose mural decora-
lions are in fair shape today. The
colors used were glaring. black
background was the usual one and the
combinations worked thereon red. yell
low and blue.
In the early Christian era the use of
mosaics for churches somewhat sup
planted mural painting. Still, during
the reign OF Justinian the Church OF
Saint Sophia was built at Constantine