The mystery of extraordinary colours

The artistic painting has a long tradition of various Consequently, Schmincke offers a number of unusual colours and colour mediums. The artists’ colours have been rare colours, which are highly praised by connoisseurs. existing unchanged till now or have been modified or repro- Numerous extraordinary colours with euphonious and duced by new pigments of better quality. Some colours exotic names are contained mainly in the premium range have a long history and the specialists consider them a assortments HORADAM® AQUARELL, MUSSINI®, Norma® must in their choice of the classical colour range. Among Professional and PRIMAcryl® and probably need an expla- those are e.g. Carmine, Cerulean blue or Burnt umber. H. nation. We would like to reveal these “mysteries” for you, Schmincke & Co. has been continuously making colour so that you become aware of what “Sfumato” or “Viridian” research in its more than 125-years-history, using basic are about. traditional formulations as a base for better, more stable and modern modifications of traditional colours.

I. Special historical colours The colour “mummy brown” which does not exist any more Vermilion red tone. Above that, the offering is completed by since some decades, has a remarkable thrilling history. This such excitingly named colours, as Verona green earth, Sepia colour got its name, indeed, from imported mummies! brown, Caesar purple or Caput mortuum. These products Other examples are “Schweinfurt green” (it contained are so important presently, that we have pleasure in explai- arsenic!) or genuine Vermilion (it contained mercury!) which ning their most particular features: were so poisonous, that artists were under severe threat.

Of course those colours disappeared and now are substi tuted by harmless, better and more stable products, e.g.

Medieval yellow Florentine red Caesar purple Byzantine blue

Origin/ Manufacture: The brigh- Origin/ Manufacture: Based on Origin/ Manufacture: In ancient Origin/ Manufacture: Often test yellow used by Medieval the old Florentine colour which times, purple was obtained by appears in Byzantine frescos. In painters. Today imitation of the was obtained from Brazil wood. means of a complicated process former times it was obtained pri- original shade with inorganic pig- Today made of Perylenes (highest from the gland of a snail, and was marily from azurite and a small ments. lightfast organic pigments). much sought-after as a particularly fraction of coal. Today compositi- Appearance: Pale, greenish, Appearance: A translucent, cold valuable dye for artists’ colours. on of modern, lightfast pigments. opaque yellow. dark red with a slight brown tint. Appearance: Finely translucent Appearance: Dark black blue . colour, bluer than magenta. which retains its blue character. : MUSSINI® (10 207), : MUSSINI® (10 353) : MUSSINI® (10 366) : MUSSINI® (10 495) PRIMAcryl® (13 203)

Ultramarine blue Royal blue Verona green earth

. Origin/ Manufacture: In the : MUSSINI® (10 491 (10 Origin/ Manufacture: The classi- Origin/ Manufacture: Known Middle Ages, ultramarine was 491 Ultramarine blue light and cal royal blue – a light blue, cor- since antiques times. Ideal for obtained from the semi-precious 10 492 Ultramarine blue deep)), responding roughly to a green- producing the “verdaccio” effect, stone lapis lazuli. It was not pos- Norma® Professional (11 442 tinged sky blue - was introduced the green priming coat applied to sible until the first third of the Ultramarine light, 443 Ultramarine under King Louis XIV of France, the main areas in portrait colou- 19th century to produce ultrama- deep), HORADAM® AQUARELL based on a cobalt pigment. ring. In former times produced rine by synthetic means without (14 494 Ultramarine finest, 496 Appearance: Depending on the with best Terra verde earths from any qualitative consequences. Ultramarine), PRIMAcryl® (13 amount of cobalt or ultramarine Baldo (Lake Garda) and traded via Appearance: Finely translucent, 443 Ultramarine in tubes, 933 pigment royal blue varies from Verona. As theses earths aren’t very pure blue with a red tinge. Ultramarine fluid in bottles) light green-tinged sky blue to available anymore, the colour is brilliant medium blue. now an imitation with high-quali- : MUSSINI® 10 485 Royal ty pigments. blue light and 10 486 Royal blue Appearance: Translucent, dull deep), PRIMAcryl® (13 436) green with a slight grey tinge. : MUSSINI® (10 640)

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H. Schmincke & Co. GmbH & Co. KG · Otto-Hahn-Str. 2 · D-40699 Erkrath 07/2007 Phone +49-211- 25090 · www.schmincke.de · [email protected] The mystery of extraordinary colours

Attic light ochre Sepia brown Caput mortuum

Origin/ Manufacture: In ancient Origin/ Manufacture: Originally Origin/ Manufacture: The name times much sought-after colour. – since the end of the 18th cen- “caput mortuum” is derived from “Attic” means the area around tury – gained from the cuttle- the field of alchemy and means Athens in ancient times. Today fish. At that time not lightfast “death’s head”, as this colour imitation with modern hydrated and storable. Today replaced by a was obtained from iron salts iron oxide. lightfast pigment mixture. Often which were baked down to their Appearance: Semi-opaque to used for first layers or pen-and-ink “dying” embers. semi-translucent fiery golden yel- drawings. Appearance: Violet-tinged dark low. Appearance: Deep brown reddish brown with high opacity : MUSSINI® (10 656) : HORADAM® AQUARELL and tinting power. (14 663 Sepia brown and 14 662 : MUSSINI® (10 648), Sepia brown tone) Norma® Professional (11 683), HORADAM® AQUARELL (14 645)

II. Unusual colour names Some colour names might sound enigmatic, because some have their roots in history, and other names were borrowed from foreign languages, especially Latin and Italian, e.g. “Atrament”, “Viridian” or “Pozzuoli earth”. We offer you an explanatory help below:

Turmaline green Viridian Pozzuoli earth Atrament black

Origin/ Manufacture: Colour simi- Origin/ Manufacture: The name Origin/ Manufacture: In former Origin/ Manufacture: “Atrament” lar to the semi-precious stone is borrowed from Latin “viridis” times made by the famous natu- was the name for a very cold tourmaline. = “green”. Successor of the ral earths from Italy. The name black in Roman times (“àtro” (ital.) Appearance: Dark, rich bluish “Original Schweinfurt green”, an relates to the place where it was = dark, gloomy, murky, “atramen- green, whose shades range from important artists’ colour in the formerly found at the foot of tarius” (lat.) = like ink). Today a yellowish green and olive green to 19th century, which was highly Vesuvius. Now high-quality imita- modern organic pigment. bluish green. toxic on account of its arsenic tion, because theses earths are Appearance: Very deep black in content. barely obtainable today. full tone, close to a Russian green : MUSSINI® (10 536), Appearance: Semi-translucent, Appearance: Redbrown, slight- in glazes. Produces green-tinged PRIMAcryl® (13 561) gentle, yellow-tinged green. ly lighter and more yellow than grey tones when mixed with : MUSSINI® (10 529) Pompeiian red, with high opacity white. and tinting power. : MUSSINI® (10 779), : MUSSINI® (10 663), PRIMAcryl® (13 791) HORADHORADAMAM® AQUARELLAQUARELL (14 666) Brown pink Sfumato (Shade grey)

(Stil de grain brun) Origin/ Manufacture:„Sfumato“ - Origin/ Manufacture: Stil de grain especially developed to pro-duce was formerly obtained from the the Italian masters famous "sfu- dyestuff contained in the semi- mato" - a fine grey mist which was ripe berries of the milkwort. applied to portraits, for examp- Today a high-quality imitation. le. („sfumato“ (ital.) = shaded; Appearance: A warm translucent „fumo“ (ital.) = fume/ smoke). brown tone. Appearance: Greenish, semi- transparent grey : MUSSINI® (10 662) : MUSSINI® (10 790) Note: All colours shown are available in the range of MUSSINI®-finest artists' resin-oil colours, - except sepia brown

These were only a few examples of the fascinating colours of the wide Schmincke assortment. Of course, there are a lot more interesting colours with extraordinary properties about which it is worth while reporting. We still hope that with our selection you’ve got new, interesting information about the exciting world of Schmincke’s finest artists’ colours.

H. Schmincke & Co. GmbH & Co. KG · Otto-Hahn-Str. 2 · D-40699 Erkrath Phone +49-211- 25090 · www.schmincke.de · [email protected] 07/2007