Summary
This thesis investigates the uses and functions of colour in Florentine panel painting of the Trecento. As the first study on this topic, it moves beyond a mere analysis of hues, using a multidisciplinary approach that in-corporates lexicography, material studies, and visual analysis. To determine the role of colour within Floren-tine society, the first section undertakes a comprehensive examination of colour vocabulary in 14th-century Italian languages, revealing both the significance of red within Florentine culture and the neutrality of colour terms regardless of context. The second section provides a synthesis of previous studies on the material history of colour and an overview of the materials and their application techniques. It highlights the inherent complexi-ty of tempera techniques and the systematic use of pigments, while also allowing for some adaptability to art-ists’ preferences. Finally, the third section examines the functions of colour within images, from both icono-graphic and pictorial perspectives. This study brings to light the systems underpinning painter colour choices, showing that, while certain individual preferences may be identified, the use of colour in panel paintings fol-lows iconographic, rhetorical,