Now it occurred to him that the marbles of the part of the building in which he was at work were turned towards the sea, and being exposed to the south-east wind, they are always moist and throw out a certain Saltness, as do nearly all the bricks of Pisa, and because the colours and paintings are eaten away by these causes, and as he wished to protect his work from destruction as far as possible, he prepared a coating for the whole of the surface on which he proposed to paint his frescoes, which consisted of a plaster or incrusture made up of lime, chalk and brick-dust.
"The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Volume 1 (of 8)"
Giorgio Vasari
In order to make his flesh colouring easier to paint Buonamico used a ground of pavonazzo di sale, as is seen in this work, which in the course of time has caused a Saltness by which the white and other colours are corroded and consumed so that it is no marvel that the work is damaged and destroyed, while many that were made long before have been excellently preserved.
"The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Volume 1 (of 8)"
Giorgio Vasari
The others were generally much younger, but some of them, though not clean past their youth, yet had about them some smacks of the Saltness of age.
"Australia Twice Traversed, The Romance of Exploration Australia Twice Traversed. The Romance Of Exploration, Being A Narrative Compiled From The Journals Of Five Exploring Expeditions Into And Through Central South Australia, And Western Australia, From 1"
Ernest Giles