End Notes
Egyptian Blue: the colour of technology
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[1] Assuming that we exclude charcoal. It is interesting that the Egyptians may also have been the only ancients with a word for "blue": see generally Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass, Arrow Books, London, 2010.
[2] Cuprorivaite was only discovered in modern times. Its chemical description is calcium-copper tetrasilicate: CaCuSi4O10 . The colour is also sometimes known as cerulean.
[3] Jaksch, H, et al, “Egyptian Blue – Cuprorivaite: A Window to Ancient Egyptian Technology”, Die Naturwissenschaften 70, 525-535 (1983); Accorsi, G et al, “The exceptional near-infrared luminescence of cuprorivaite (Egyptian blue)”, Chemical Communications Issue 23, 2009, 3392.
[4] Bell, P, Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, Viking, London, 2001.
[5] This is different from the European faience, which is pottery glazed with tin oxide.
[6] Bredal-Jørgensen, J, et al, “Striking presence of Egyptian blue identified in a painting by Giovanni Battista Benvenuto from 1524”, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Sep 2011 Vol 401 Iss 4, p 1433.
[7] Verri, G, “The spatially resolved characterisation of Egyptian blue, Han blue and Han purple by photo-induced luminescence digital imaging”, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, June 2009 Vol 394, Iss 4, pp 1011.
[8] Accorsi, op cit.
[9] Verri, op cit.
[10] “Imaging of Egyptian Blue: Technical Details”, at http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Imaging%20of%20Egyptian%20Blue_Technical%20details.pdf; Accorsi, op cit. Egyptian blue’s exceptional capacity for extreme luminescence is shared by only two other blue/purple pigments, Han blue and Han purple. As it happens, those colours, which also are synthetic, are chemically very similar to Egyptian blue: Han purple (BaCuSi2O6) is one of the colours detected by chemical analysis on the Terracotta Warriors that were sensationally re-discovered in central China in 1974. It differs only slightly from Han blue (BaCuSi4O10) which, in turn, holds a striking visual resemblance and chemical composition to Egyptian blue. If Han blue’s barium is substituted for calcium, you have Egyptian blue: CaCuSi4O10: McMillan, Fiona, “The mysterious colour purple” Cosmos Magazine, 6 August 2009.
[11] For the use of Egyptian Blue as a background colouring in mummy portraits, see M Ganio et al, "Investigating the use of Egyptian blue in Roman Egyptian portraits and panels from Tebtunis, Egypt", Appl Phys. A, 14 August 2015; Megan Fellman, "Unusual use of blue pigment found in ancient mummy portraits", Popular Archaeology, 27 August 2015.
[12] It was, however, clear that the architectural structures that housed the sculptures were painted.
[13] The discovery of paint on the Parthenon sculptures in London complements recent reports by Greek specialists of newly found colour on some parts of the frieze in Athens; see C. Vlassopoulou, ‘Neue Untersuchungen zur Farbigkeit des Parthenon’ in Bunte Götter, Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur, Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt am Main (2008) 145-147. In general, the growing realisation that many Greek temples and sculptures were brightly coloured came as a shock to many.The sculptor Auguste Rodin is reputed to have responded to the suggestion by beating his chest, crying loudly, "I feel here that they were never coloured!" (Victoria Finlay, Colour: Travels through the Paintbox, The Folio Society, London, 2009 at 116.
[14] O’Connell, ER, “Pigment and power dressing in Roman Egypt” https://blog.britishmuseum.org/pigment-and-power-dressing-in-roman-egypt/ October 26, 2012. For other examples of detection through luminescence, see Verri, G, The use and distribution of Egyptian blue: a study by visible-induced luminescence imaging, in ed. K. Uprichard and A. Middleton, Conservation, scientific examination and re-display of the Nebamun wall paintings, Archetype, London, 2008; and Holly Lauridsen "'Digging'' for color: the search for Egyptian Blue in ancient reliefs, http://news.yale.edu/2014/05/05/digging-color-search-egyptian-blue-ancient-reliefs 5 May 2014.
[15] The following paragraph in the text is based on Accorsi, op cit.
[16] Moreover, the relatively long-lived luminescence makes it possible to cut off short-lived background emission from other sources.
[17] Johnson-McDaniel, D, et al, “Nanosacience of an Ancient Pigment”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013, 135(5) pp 1677.
[18] Although other near-infrared-emitting materials exist, Egyptian blue is composed of abundant and inexpensive elements — calcium, copper, silicon, and oxygen — in contrast to other near-infrared-emitting materials that contain rare earth elements.
[18A] Roberto KIng et al, "NIR−NIR fluorescence: A new genre of fingermark visualisation techniques", Forensic Science International , Volume 262 (May 2016), e28 - e33; Benjamin Errington & Ors, "Micronised Egyptian blue pigment: A novel near-infrared luminescent fingerprint dusting powder", Dyes and Pigments, Vol 132, Sept 2016, 310 -313: available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014372081630198X; Curtin University Media Release, 24 May 2016 "Ancient pigment could help solve modern crime" http://news.curtin.edu.au/media-releases/ancient-pigment-help-solve-modern-crime/
[18B] Paul Berdahl et al, "High quantum yield of the Egyptian blue family of infrared phosphors (MCuSi4O10, M = Ca, Sr, Ba)", Journal of Applied Physics Vol 123, 193103 (2018). My thanks to Martin Adams for this reference.
[19] Lazzarini L, “The discovery of Egyptian blue in a Roman fresco of the mediaeval period (ninth century A.D.)”, Studies in Conservation, Vol 27 (1982) p84.
[20] Gaetani, MC et al, “The Use of Egyptian Blue and Lapis Lazuli in the Middle Ages: The Wall Paintings of the San Saba Church in Rome”, Studies in Conservation , Vol. 49, No 1 (2004), p 13.
[21] Mazzocchin GA et al, “A short note on Egyptian blue”, Journal of Cultural Heritage, 5 (2004), 129.
[22] Davy, Sir H, “Some experiments and observations on the colours used in painting by the ancients”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 105, p 97; Warner, TE, Synthesis, Properties and Mineralogy of Important Inorganic Materials, John Wiley & Sons, 2011, at 41.
[23] Tite, M S et al, (1984)“Technological examination of Egyptian blue” in Lambert JB (ed) Archaeological Chemistry 111, American Chemical Society, Washington 205-242.
[24] Lluveras, A et al. “Evidence for the use of egyptian blue in an 11th century mural altarpiece”, Archaeometry, Volume 52, Issue 2, p 308 (April 2010).
[25] Baraldi, P., Fagnano, C, Giordani, N., Pvoversi, P., and Tannini, P., 'Una testimonianza di blu egiziano nella Bologna del '500', poster presented at Archeometria e niondo classico (8a giornata su Le Scienze della Terra e I'Archeometria), Rome, Museo dell'Arte Glassica, 22-24 February 2001).
[26] Gaetani, op cit.
[27] The artist’s real name is Giovanni Battista Benvenuto, but he is often referred to as L’Ortolano Ferrarese, due to his father’s work as a gardener (ortolano = greengrocer), and his birthplace in Ferrara.
[28] Bredal, op cit.
[29] Church, Sir AH, The Chemistry of Paints and Painting, Seely, Serive and Co Ltd London, 1915, at 250. Accessed at: http://archive.org/stream/chemistryofpaint00churuoft#page/262/mode/2up
© Philip McCouat 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Mode of citation: Philip McCouat, "Egyptian blue: the colour of technology", Journal of Art in Society, www.artinsociety.com
We welcome your comments on this article
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[1] Assuming that we exclude charcoal. It is interesting that the Egyptians may also have been the only ancients with a word for "blue": see generally Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass, Arrow Books, London, 2010.
[2] Cuprorivaite was only discovered in modern times. Its chemical description is calcium-copper tetrasilicate: CaCuSi4O10 . The colour is also sometimes known as cerulean.
[3] Jaksch, H, et al, “Egyptian Blue – Cuprorivaite: A Window to Ancient Egyptian Technology”, Die Naturwissenschaften 70, 525-535 (1983); Accorsi, G et al, “The exceptional near-infrared luminescence of cuprorivaite (Egyptian blue)”, Chemical Communications Issue 23, 2009, 3392.
[4] Bell, P, Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, Viking, London, 2001.
[5] This is different from the European faience, which is pottery glazed with tin oxide.
[6] Bredal-Jørgensen, J, et al, “Striking presence of Egyptian blue identified in a painting by Giovanni Battista Benvenuto from 1524”, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Sep 2011 Vol 401 Iss 4, p 1433.
[7] Verri, G, “The spatially resolved characterisation of Egyptian blue, Han blue and Han purple by photo-induced luminescence digital imaging”, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, June 2009 Vol 394, Iss 4, pp 1011.
[8] Accorsi, op cit.
[9] Verri, op cit.
[10] “Imaging of Egyptian Blue: Technical Details”, at http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Imaging%20of%20Egyptian%20Blue_Technical%20details.pdf; Accorsi, op cit. Egyptian blue’s exceptional capacity for extreme luminescence is shared by only two other blue/purple pigments, Han blue and Han purple. As it happens, those colours, which also are synthetic, are chemically very similar to Egyptian blue: Han purple (BaCuSi2O6) is one of the colours detected by chemical analysis on the Terracotta Warriors that were sensationally re-discovered in central China in 1974. It differs only slightly from Han blue (BaCuSi4O10) which, in turn, holds a striking visual resemblance and chemical composition to Egyptian blue. If Han blue’s barium is substituted for calcium, you have Egyptian blue: CaCuSi4O10: McMillan, Fiona, “The mysterious colour purple” Cosmos Magazine, 6 August 2009.
[11] For the use of Egyptian Blue as a background colouring in mummy portraits, see M Ganio et al, "Investigating the use of Egyptian blue in Roman Egyptian portraits and panels from Tebtunis, Egypt", Appl Phys. A, 14 August 2015; Megan Fellman, "Unusual use of blue pigment found in ancient mummy portraits", Popular Archaeology, 27 August 2015.
[12] It was, however, clear that the architectural structures that housed the sculptures were painted.
[13] The discovery of paint on the Parthenon sculptures in London complements recent reports by Greek specialists of newly found colour on some parts of the frieze in Athens; see C. Vlassopoulou, ‘Neue Untersuchungen zur Farbigkeit des Parthenon’ in Bunte Götter, Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur, Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt am Main (2008) 145-147. In general, the growing realisation that many Greek temples and sculptures were brightly coloured came as a shock to many.The sculptor Auguste Rodin is reputed to have responded to the suggestion by beating his chest, crying loudly, "I feel here that they were never coloured!" (Victoria Finlay, Colour: Travels through the Paintbox, The Folio Society, London, 2009 at 116.
[14] O’Connell, ER, “Pigment and power dressing in Roman Egypt” https://blog.britishmuseum.org/pigment-and-power-dressing-in-roman-egypt/ October 26, 2012. For other examples of detection through luminescence, see Verri, G, The use and distribution of Egyptian blue: a study by visible-induced luminescence imaging, in ed. K. Uprichard and A. Middleton, Conservation, scientific examination and re-display of the Nebamun wall paintings, Archetype, London, 2008; and Holly Lauridsen "'Digging'' for color: the search for Egyptian Blue in ancient reliefs, http://news.yale.edu/2014/05/05/digging-color-search-egyptian-blue-ancient-reliefs 5 May 2014.
[15] The following paragraph in the text is based on Accorsi, op cit.
[16] Moreover, the relatively long-lived luminescence makes it possible to cut off short-lived background emission from other sources.
[17] Johnson-McDaniel, D, et al, “Nanosacience of an Ancient Pigment”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013, 135(5) pp 1677.
[18] Although other near-infrared-emitting materials exist, Egyptian blue is composed of abundant and inexpensive elements — calcium, copper, silicon, and oxygen — in contrast to other near-infrared-emitting materials that contain rare earth elements.
[18A] Roberto KIng et al, "NIR−NIR fluorescence: A new genre of fingermark visualisation techniques", Forensic Science International , Volume 262 (May 2016), e28 - e33; Benjamin Errington & Ors, "Micronised Egyptian blue pigment: A novel near-infrared luminescent fingerprint dusting powder", Dyes and Pigments, Vol 132, Sept 2016, 310 -313: available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014372081630198X; Curtin University Media Release, 24 May 2016 "Ancient pigment could help solve modern crime" http://news.curtin.edu.au/media-releases/ancient-pigment-help-solve-modern-crime/
[18B] Paul Berdahl et al, "High quantum yield of the Egyptian blue family of infrared phosphors (MCuSi4O10, M = Ca, Sr, Ba)", Journal of Applied Physics Vol 123, 193103 (2018). My thanks to Martin Adams for this reference.
[19] Lazzarini L, “The discovery of Egyptian blue in a Roman fresco of the mediaeval period (ninth century A.D.)”, Studies in Conservation, Vol 27 (1982) p84.
[20] Gaetani, MC et al, “The Use of Egyptian Blue and Lapis Lazuli in the Middle Ages: The Wall Paintings of the San Saba Church in Rome”, Studies in Conservation , Vol. 49, No 1 (2004), p 13.
[21] Mazzocchin GA et al, “A short note on Egyptian blue”, Journal of Cultural Heritage, 5 (2004), 129.
[22] Davy, Sir H, “Some experiments and observations on the colours used in painting by the ancients”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 105, p 97; Warner, TE, Synthesis, Properties and Mineralogy of Important Inorganic Materials, John Wiley & Sons, 2011, at 41.
[23] Tite, M S et al, (1984)“Technological examination of Egyptian blue” in Lambert JB (ed) Archaeological Chemistry 111, American Chemical Society, Washington 205-242.
[24] Lluveras, A et al. “Evidence for the use of egyptian blue in an 11th century mural altarpiece”, Archaeometry, Volume 52, Issue 2, p 308 (April 2010).
[25] Baraldi, P., Fagnano, C, Giordani, N., Pvoversi, P., and Tannini, P., 'Una testimonianza di blu egiziano nella Bologna del '500', poster presented at Archeometria e niondo classico (8a giornata su Le Scienze della Terra e I'Archeometria), Rome, Museo dell'Arte Glassica, 22-24 February 2001).
[26] Gaetani, op cit.
[27] The artist’s real name is Giovanni Battista Benvenuto, but he is often referred to as L’Ortolano Ferrarese, due to his father’s work as a gardener (ortolano = greengrocer), and his birthplace in Ferrara.
[28] Bredal, op cit.
[29] Church, Sir AH, The Chemistry of Paints and Painting, Seely, Serive and Co Ltd London, 1915, at 250. Accessed at: http://archive.org/stream/chemistryofpaint00churuoft#page/262/mode/2up
© Philip McCouat 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Mode of citation: Philip McCouat, "Egyptian blue: the colour of technology", Journal of Art in Society, www.artinsociety.com
We welcome your comments on this article
Back to HOME