Garish Colors - Lapis Lazuli Blue

#lapislazuli #blue #pigment #ancientpainting.

The strongest pigment in the ancient palette was probably lapislazuli or ultramarine blue.
It was also the most expensive having to be imported from what is now Afghanistan.

Blue could also be obtained from smalt ot azurite but the peculiar porous structure of this mineral makes it work better as a pigment than as a gemstone.

So if you're thinking bright blue appeared on buildings and artworks.

Probably not unless blended with other pigments to make it go further.

The unprocessed mineral form.

Due to it being so expensive I have not have found any pre byzantine mosaics or frescos or encaustic painting  that seem to be using blue that clearly derives from ultramarine.

Sometimes I've seen dark or light blues but these could be smalt or azurite blended with other pigments.

S bright garish blues ... maybe not ?

Garish Colors - Cinnabar Red

GARISH COLOURS - CINNABAR RED

#classicalart #ancientgreekpainting #romanpainting #pigments # cinnabar

Probably the Brightest Strongest Mineral Pigment available to the Greeks and Romans was #Cinnabar #MercurySulphide

If you think painted statues or wall paintings were a riot of bright reds greens yellows and blues ... er no ... the Greeks and Romans had a more limited range of pigments available than we do.
But yes some of those all now seemingly serene marble sculptures may have had red clothing and cinnabar mixed with other pigments for skin tones.

This is what cinnabar looks like.

Please bear in mind that cinnabar can be toxic and especially in its powdered form should be handled with gloves and a mask and washing of any exposed skin and probably clothes too.

The raw mineral ore form

Powder and wet pigment


Its a gorgeous warm color stronger than Realgar or any of the Iron Oxide reds from clays.

Cadmium Red wasn't discovered until the 19th century.

Cinnabar red is also known as Vermilion or sometimes as Minium.

If you're planning to try to duplicate the reds seen on Roman frescoes I suggest you use modern paints to avoid the toxicity problem and bear in mind another problem with sulphides is that they do NOT BLEND WELL with pigments from copper ore.

I did consult Wikipedia and other sources but that was to check if what I remembered from art school decades ago was still valid and up to date.