By Cennino d'Andrea Cennini. 

D. V. Thompson's definitive English translation of Il Libro dell'Arte, a guide to methods of painting written in 15th century Florence.
Embodying the secrets and techniques of the great masters, it served as an art student's introduction to the ways of his craft.
It describes the traditional skills of paint making, pigment refinement, preparation of glues, gilding, mosaics and the colouring of parchment and other substrates.