The ARTECHNE research database contains fully searchable digitized sources on artisanal techniques, such as recipes, books of secrets, and artist handbooks, from the period 1500-1900, in Latin, Dutch, German, English, French, Italian and Spanish.
The database is rooted in the Colour ConText database, and developed as part of the ARTECHNE research project. Allowing for topic modelling and geospatial visualisation of sources, it helps us to answer the central questions of ARTECHNE: what is ‘technique’ in the visual and decorative arts? And how is ‘technique’ transmitted through texts? This five-year project is supported by the European Research Council, and led by Sven Dupré at Utrecht University and the University of Amsterdam.