Blue Pigments

5000 years of Art and Industry

By (author) François Delamare

Book cover: Blue Pigments

Extent: 376 pages

Publisher: Archetype Publications Ltd 

Subjects: Art & Art History

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(January 2013)

ISBN: 9781904982371

7.44 x 9.65 inches

Price: $90.00

In stock

Traces the remarkable history of blue pigments, from rare natural sources like lapis lazuli and azurite to ingenious synthetic creations such as Egyptian blue, Maya blue, Prussian blue, and artificial ultramarine. Highlighting the technical challenges and cultural significance of producing blue, the book reveals how each civilization developed its own solutions-making blue pigments powerful markers of technological innovation and artistic identity across time and geography.


In the natural world, blue rocks from which objects can be fashioned are rare – a few marbles, lapis-lazuli and related rocks, and minerals containing copper. However those which, once ground, can be used as pigments are exceptional. Only lapis-lazuli and azurite come to mind. The long absence of blues from the palettes of our distant ancestors is therefore easy to explain as is the fact that blue pigments have always been an expensive commodity which became the objects of a very lucrative trade, spanning continents and oceans. The primary goal of this book is to show how much ingenuity man has needed to employ in order to make blue materials. From Egyptian blue to copper phtalocyanine, ranging through Maya and Han blues, smalt, blue ashes, Prussian blue and artificial ultramarine, we cannot help but be in awe of the variety of technical solutions found. Each civilization has produced its own solution, or sequence of solutions. Thus one can say that blue pigments can be considered as markers of civilizations.

Egyptian blue, the blue pigment of Mediterranean antiquity: From Egyptian hsbd iryt to Roman caeruleum

Zaffre, smalt, bleu d'esmail and azure: Tribulations of Saxon cobalt

Natural ultramarine: The essence of the blue pigment

German azurite and English blue verditer : Favourite pigments of European painters

Prussian blue: An unexpected destiny

The discovery of Thenard's (cobalt) blue: A time for scientists

Guimet blue and artificial ultramarines: The dream comes true

Copper phthalocyanines: A chance happily exploited

Rediscovering forgotten blues

The Rediscovery of Egyptian blue

The Rediscovery of Han blue

The Rediscovery of yax, the Maya blue

Appendix

Bibliography

List of colorants, colours, minerals and blue pigments mentioned in the text,

Egyptian blue, the blue pigment of Mediterranean antiquity: From Egyptian hsbd iryt to Roman caeruleum

Zaffre, smalt, bleu d'esmail and azure: Tribulations of Saxon cobalt

Natural ultramarine: The essence of the blue pigment

German azurite and English blue verditer : Favourite pigments of European painters

Prussian blue: An unexpected destiny

The discovery of Thenard’s (cobalt) blue: A time for scientists

Guimet blue and artificial ultramarines: The dream comes true

Copper phthalocyanines: A chance happily exploited

Rediscovering forgotten blues

The Rediscovery of Egyptian blue

The Rediscovery of Han blue

The Rediscovery of yax, the Maya blue

Appendix

Bibliography

List of colorants, colours, minerals and blue pigments mentioned in the text

  • By (author) François Delamare