Agate, a hard, semi-precious stone out of which burnishers for gold leaf are now
commonly made. The word is often used to mean burnisher.
Alembic. Like the oil press and other articles of equipment for the preparation
of mediums, the alembic, a glass vessel with neck bent downwards, for distillation,
is occasionally seen in studio interiors of the XV century and shortly after. A
painting of St Luke of the school of Massys, in the National Gallery, London (no.
3902), shows a small alembic on a shelf along with other containers. Leonardo da
Vinci mentions it a few times in his notebooks, largely with respect to the distilla-
tion of turpentine.
Amassette (see also Slice and figure 24). This name, obviously French in origin
and probably restricted to that locality of Europe, has been used to define a
scraper made out of horn. This, like the slice, was for piling and collecting paint on
the grinding slab. It is mentioned in the Brussels MS. of 1635 bv Pierre le Brun
(Merrifield, II, 770 and n.).
Anatomical Figure. Interest in anatomy on the part of painters brought about
extensive study by means of dissection, and later, as a more convenient means of
information for students, various kinds of casts and models were made to show
the positions of muscles and bones. Although occupation with this study began in
the XV century, widespread study of anatomy was a development of the XVI
century. Various drawings and paintings of academies in the late XVI century
particularly show students and teachers at the work of dissection and drawing.
Skeletons and skulls are common models and, more rarely, casts or models of
muscles.
Atomizer. When certain types of drawings require to be fixed in order to pre-
vent their chafing they are sprayed with a resin dissolved in a suitable organic
solvent. The common means for making such a spray is a pair of small metal tubes
placed at right angles to each other so that a stream of air from the larger blows
across an open end of the smaller, the other end of the smaller tube being in the
resin solution. A spray of the diluted resin is thus thrown out There are many
variations of the construction of this simple tool. Most artists still blow these by
mouth rather than with a pump or bulb. Historically, the atomizer is probably
fairly recent in the arts. As late as the XVII century, large drawings used as
cartoons were dipped into a bath of fixative (Meder, p. 191).
Basin Slant The porcelain palette with inverse, wedge-shaped depressions for
water color painting is frequently made in the form of a disk which sits like a lid on
a basin for water (figure 26, £). In this lid the depressions are on radial lines and a
hole is put in the center where a brush can be dipped in the water beneath. Some
manufacturers add a separate and removable cup which fits into the central
opening.
Beaker. A glass container for measuring quantities of fluid is now practically
without consideration amongst artists* colormen. Beakers are commonly seen,
however, in paintings of artists' studios from the XV to XVIII centuries.
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