Renaissance watercolours: materials and techniques

Focussing on the three types of object featured in the Renaissance Watercolours display: illuminated manuscripts, portrait miniatures and coloured drawings, this film showcases the qualities that made watercolour the medium of choice for many artists during the Renaissance.

A modern-day painting of a pomegranate, using traditional watercolour techniques, by artist Lucy Smith, also demonstrates how watercolour painting remains a versatile medium, ideal for capturing life-like details that help us to record our diverse world.

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Header image: (Detail) Illuminated manuscript, The Leuville Espistles of St. Paul with the Canonical Epistles of James, Peter, John & Jude, about 1520 – 30. Museum no. MSL/1921/1721. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London