False gilding

In addition to gold, other metals were also used in medieval easel painting. Silver was used to depict jewelry or products made of this metal. Tin and copper served the same purpose. They were used in the form of a metal powder, prepared in a way similar to the production of powder gold. First, the thinnest sheets or sawdust of metal with honey, glue, gum or other similar substances were ground to a finely dispersed state, and then, after repeated washing, they were mixed together with one of the binders - gum, yolk, white, fish or parchment glue. 

In a way similar to the application of gold, silver leaf was applied to the polyment, and tin leaves were applied to imitate it. 

Various methods of preparing and using silver, tin and copper in painting can be found in many treatises and collections of recipes, starting with the Lucca manuscript. They are found in a variety of very different versions in Heraclius, and especially in Theophilus and Cennini, as well as in other authors, including de Mayern. 

These metals were also used to imitate gold. In this case, the leaves of silver or tin were covered with some yellow varnish. Most often, varnishes prepared on the basis of saffron and buckthorn extracts were used for this purpose.