Colour

Member lesson

History of pigments

Lesson 24 of 27 in Colour.

History’s deadliest colors - J. V. Maranto · TED-Ed
Lesson

For most of history a colour was a substance somebody had to find, dig, grind, burn or synthesise, and what a painter could paint was limited by what a merchant could supply. Ultramarine came from lapis lazuli mined in what is now Afghanistan and cost more than gold, which is why it was reserved for the most important figure in a picture.

In an old workshop an apprentice grinds blue stone beside a scale where a pouch of blue powder outweighs gold coins, with a painting behind where only the central figure wears blue.
An apprentice grinds blue stone into paint worth more than gold. For centuries the costliest blue was saved for the most important figure in a picture.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “An insoluble coloured solid, ground and suspended in a medium.”

    • Complementary
    • Pigment
    • Additive colour
    • ICC profile
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Soluble, and stains rather than sits on the surface. A different technology.”

    • Relative temperature
    • Primary
    • Fugitive
    • Dye
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A dye fixed onto an inert powder so it behaves as a pigment.”

    • Lake
    • Spot colour
    • Pigment
    • Colour psychology

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