One of my favorite aspects of traveling, is finding inspiration for new Sinopia Clay Bole colors. For over a year now, I had an idea for deep rich blue bole color, but I lacked a good historical reference for the color.
Quattrocento Icon at the Seattle Art Museum
I initially discovered a historical Italian bole color on a Quattrocento icon. The border of the frame had some exposed bole areas, that revealed a muted dark blue. Beautiful subtle color, but I had something brighter in mind that would create a nice contrast to gold leaf.
The answer presented itself when a friend of mine, Lynne Rutter, returned from a research trip in Italy. She had visited the Bardini Museum in Florence, Italy and returned with a swatch of the blue that was used to paint the walls in the rooms that house the collection, many of which are gilded pieces.
Bardini Museum in Florence, Italy
Eureka! This glowing blue makes the perfect contrast to the rich shade of gold. Hence this new color in our collection is called Bardini Blue.
Bardini Blue Sinopia Clay Bole