Early R enaissance Production Recipes for N aples Y ellow Pigment: A Mineralogical and Lead Isotope Study of I talian Majolica from Montelupo ( F lorence)

The N aples Y ellow pigment was apparently used for the first time by the E gyptians, as a glass‐colouring agent. Also known in the M esopotamian and R oman cultures, the recipe was lost in W estern E urope between the fourth and the 16th centuries ad . The recipe for the production of lead antimonate recently discovered in the ‘ C odice C alabranci’ (second half of the 15th century) at M ontelupo, a small town near F lorence ( I taly) known for its large‐scale ceramic production, possibly represents the very first evidence of the reintroduction of N aples Y ellow in W estern E urope after a long period of absence. The major‐element composition of the lead antimonate pigment in the M ontelupo ceramics of the 15th and 16th centuries is in accordance with the ‘ C odice C alabranci’ recipes. Lead isotope analyses indicate that the lead used to produce the yellow pigments and the underlying glaze of the M ontelupo majolica did not come from the T uscan mining districts, but was possibly imported via V enice from more distant lead sources in T urkey.