What I Learned on Friday...

... the Pre-Raphaelite painters Hunt and Millais used white porcelain palettes indoors as these would show up any remains of another color which might contaminate tints which needed to be "of pristine purity". When they painted outdoors they used lighter and less breakable papier mâché palettes.

It's in the section on painting materials (page 39) of Pre-Raphaelite Methods and Materials, by Joyce H Townsend, Jacqueline Ridge, and Stephen Hackney, a book I bought back in 2004 when I went to see the Pre-Raphaelite Vision exhibition at the Tate Britain gallery in London.
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And if you've remembered that I also went to see the Millais exhibition there last year, you'll be right in thinking I like paintings by the Pre-Raphs. It's the intensely saturated colors and level of carefully planned and placed detail.

See Also:
• Palettes and Techniques of the Masters: the Pre-Raphaelites
• Who Were the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?
• Why Was the Art of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Controversial?