The "Interpretation of Painting Art" by Hieromonk Dionysius from Fournas, written in the 18th century, was one of the few comprehensive technical painting manuals in Greece, through which a systematic effort was made to document materials and painting methods, conveying information, knowledge, and practices from both the Eastern tradition and the Western technological tradition.
The comparative study of the technological section of the "Interpretation of Painting Art," along with three corresponding Western manuals from the medieval and Renaissance periods (Teophilus, On Divers Art - The Strasburg Manuscript - Cennino Cennini, Il libro dell'arte), constituted not only a scientific challenge but also an invitation to a journey of knowledge regarding the technological methods of painting art from past centuries.
The decoding and correlation of information from the four manuals raised crucial questions but also led to interesting conclusions, although understanding the included recipes was not an easy task, as many materials, plants, minerals, and chemical elements referred to by the authors are either no longer used today or are encountered under different names.
