Renaissance Recipes for Making Artificial Pearls by Leonardo da Vinci and Others

摘要

A process suggested by a young Leonardo da Vinci in 1480 for reconstituting small pearls into a single large one is here translated into English for the first time. This formula is compared to two other nearly contemporaneous recipes, which are representative of a series of Renaissance processes for making artificial pearls. Leonardo da Vinci also suggested a mechanical method for polishing the reconstituted pearls, and he was aware that mother-of-pearl and pearl behave the same way when attacked with weak acids.