Interest in synthetic blue pigments dates back to the dawn of history. Blue is the oldest known color to be synthesized as a pigment, having been found as a glass frit called Egyptian Blue in Egyptian mural paintings at least 3,000 years old and, as more recent research reveals, in Greek Bronze Age pigments from Knossos dating back to 3,000 BCE. Yet for all this interest, blue is the color that has proved to be the most difficult in developing a durable palette from both natural and synthetic sources. The natural sources, for the most part minerals containing either a sulfur-based chromophore or copper, and the evanescent indigo, were unsatisfactory due to scarcity, expense, and/or instability. Synthetic blues, with the exception of Egyptian Blue, proved to be even more unstable. A surprisingly stable blue from the Maya empire contained an equally surprising chromophore. This paper will document the evolution of blue and its use, and how a gradually increasing understanding of the nature of blue eventually led to other surprising advances in civilization.<br/>

Archaeological blue pigments: Problem children from the get-go

2019 Spring National Meeting

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