Urinary Colors
Perhaps Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, a photo of a crucifix in a bottle of his own urine, is not so unusual after all. I’ve just learnt that the red dyes used for high-status textiles in the Middle Ages (ecclesiastical, regal etc.) would wash out quickly unless a “mordant” was used to set the color and there was no better “mordant” than urine. In ancient Pompei public toilets even delivered urine direct to the dye-works and the liquid continues to be used in the modern chemical industry. Plastics with names like polyurethane and urea formaldehyde betray the fact that they could contain urine. This also means, I suppose, that paintings of Christ have been covered in urine for centuries.
If you’re interested in knowing any more of such fascinating facts you should read Spike Bucklow’s The Alchemy of Paint: Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages (London: Marion Boyars) 2009 $17.95 in paperback.
Posted 05 Dec 2011: BooksContemporary ArtReligion
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