Product information The mystery of extraordinary colours The artistic painting has a long tradition of various colours Consequently, Schmincke offers a number of unusual rare and colour mediums. The artists’ colours have been exi- colours, which are highly praised by connoisseurs. Numerous sting unchanged till now or have been modified or repro- extraordinary colours with euphonious and exotic names duced by new pigments of better quality. Some colours are contained mainly in the premium range assortments have a long history and the specialists consider them a HORADAM® AQUARELL, MUSSINI®, Norma® Professional must in their choice of the classical colour range. Among and PRIMAcryl® and probably need an explanation. We those are e.g. Carmine, Cerulean blue or Burnt umber. H. would like to reveal these “mysteries” for you, so that you Schmincke & Co. has been continuously making colour become aware of what “Sfumato” or “Viridian” are about. research in its more than 130-years-history, using basic 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 since some decades, has a remarkable thrilling history. This colour got its name, indeed, from imported mummies! Other examples are “Schweinfurt green” (it contained arsenic!) or genuine Vermilion (it contained mercury!) which were so poisonous, that artists were under severe threat.Of course those colours disappeared and now are substituted by harmless, better and more stable products, e.g. Vermilion red tone. Above that, the offering is completed by such excitingly named colours, as Verona green earth, Sepia brown, Caesar purple or Caput mortuum. These products are so important presently, that we have pleasure in explaining their most particular features: Medieval yellow Florentine red Caesar purple Byzantine blue Origin/ Manufacture: The brightest Origin/ Manufacture: Based on the Origin/ Manufacture: In ancient Origin/ Manufacture: Often yellow used by Medieval painters. old Florentine colour which was times, purple was obtained by appears in Byzantine frescos. In Today imitation of the original obtained from Brazil wood. Today means of a complicated process former times it was obtained pri- shade with inorganic pigments. made of Perylenes (highest light- from the gland of a snail, and was marily from azurite and a small Appearance: Pale, greenish, opa- fast organic pigments). much sought-after as a particularly fraction of coal. Today composition que yellow. Appearance: A translucent, cold valuable dye for artists’ colours. of modern, lightfast pigments. dark red with a slight brown tint. Appearance: Finely translucent Appearance: Dark black blue which : MUSSINI® (10 207), colour, bluer than magenta. retains its blue character. PRIMAcryl® (13 203) : MUSSINI® (10 353) : MUSSINI® (10 366) : MUSSINI® (10 495) Ultramarine blue Royal blue Verona green earth Origin/ Manufacture: In the Middle : MUSSINI® (10 491 (10 Origin/ Manufacture: The classical Origin/ Manufacture: Known since Ages, ultramarine was obtained 491 Ultramarine blue light and royal blue – a light blue, cor- antiques times. Ideal for produ- from the semi-precious stone 10 492 Ultramarine blue deep)), responding roughly to a green- cing the “verdaccio” effect, the lapis lazuli. It was not possible Norma® Professional (11 442 tinged sky blue - was introduced green priming coat applied to until the first third of the 19th Ultramarine light, 443 Ultramarine under King Louis XIV of France, the main areas in portrait colou- century to produce ultramarine deep), HORADAM® AQUARELL based on a cobalt pigment. ring. In former times produced by synthetic means without any (14 494 Ultramarine finest, 496 Appearance: Depending on the with best Terra verde earths from qualitative consequences. Ultramarine), PRIMAcryl® (13 443 amount of cobalt or ultramarine Baldo (Lake Garda) and traded via Appearance: Finely translucent, Ultramarine) pigment royal blue varies from Verona. As theses earths aren’t very pure blue with a red tinge. light green-tinged sky blue to bril- available anymore, the colour is liant medium blue. now an imitation with high-quality : MUSSINI® 10 485 Royal pigments. blue light and 10 486 Royal blue deep), Appearance: Translucent, dull PRIMAcryl® (13 436) green with a slight grey tinge. : MUSSINI® (10 640) H. Schmincke & Co. GmbH & Co. KG · Otto-Hahn-Str. 2 · D- 40699 Erkrath · Tel.: +49-211-2509-0 · www.schmincke.de · [email protected] 02/2014 Product information 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 century “caput mortuum” is derived from “Attic” means the area around – gained from the cuttlefish. At the field of alchemy and means Athens in ancient times. Today imi- that time not lightfast and storable. “death’s head”, as this colour was tation with modern hydrated iron Today replaced by a lightfast pig- obtained from iron salts which oxide. ment mixture. Often used for first were baked down to their “dying” Appearance: Semi-opaque to semi- layers or pen-and-ink drawings. embers. translucent fiery golden yellow. Appearance: Deep brown Appearance: Violet-tinged dark : MUSSINI® (10 656) : HORADAM® AQUARELL reddish brown with high opacity (14 663 Sepia brown and 14 662 and tinting power. Sepia brown tone) : MUSSINI® (10 648), 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 similar Origin/ Manufacture: The name is Origin/ Manufacture: In former Origin/ Manufacture: “Atrament” to the semi-precious stone tour- borrowed from Latin “viridis” = times made by the famous natural was the name for a very cold black maline. “green”. Successor of the “Original earths from Italy. The name relates in Roman times (“àtro” (ital.) = Appearance: Dark, rich bluish Schweinfurt green”, an important to the place where it was formerly dark, gloomy, murky, “atramen- green, whose shades range from artists’ colour in the 19th century, found at the foot of Vesuvius. Now tarius” (lat.) = like ink). Today a yellowish green and olive green to which was highly toxic on account high-quality imitation, because modern organic pigment. bluish green. of its arsenic content. theses earths are barely obtaina- Appearance: Very deep black in full Appearance: Semi-translucent, ble today. tone, close to a Russian green in : MUSSINI® (10 536), gentle, yellow-tinged green. Appearance: Redbrown, slight- glazes. Produces green-tinged grey PRIMAcryl® (13 561) : MUSSINI® (10 529) ly lighter and more yellow than tones when mixed with white. Pompeiian red, with high opacity : MUSSINI® (10 779), and tinting power. PRIMAcryl® (13 791) : MUSSINI® (10 663), HORADAM® AQUARELL (14 666) The described product attributes and ap- tions and tested in trials. For this reason, plication examples have been tested in we cannot provide a warranty for product the Schmincke laboratory. The information attributes and/or assume liability for da- Brown pink Sfumato (Shade grey) is based on our current state of technical mages that occur in connection with the (Stil de grain brun) Origin/ Manufacture:„Sfumato“ - findings and experience. Due to the diver- use of our products. Origin/ Manufacture: Stil de grain especially developed to pro-duce sity of applications in terms of painting By the way: Specifics for handling and was formerly obtained from the the Italian masters famous "sfu- techniques, materials and working condi- product safety you will find on our web- dyestuff contained in the semi- mato" - a fine grey mist which tions, as well as numerous possible influ- site www.schmincke.de (e.g. download/ ripe berries of the milkwort. Today was applied to portraits, for exa- ences, this information is based on a ge- safety data sheets). a high-quality imitation. mple. („sfumato“ (ital.) = shaded; neral application range. A legally binding For special questions please don´t hesita- Appearance: A warm translucent „fumo“ (ital.) = fume/ smoke). guarantee of specific attributes or the te to ask our team in the lab! brown tone. Appearance: Greenish, semi- suitability for a specific usage purpose The best way to get in contact with them transparent grey cannot be derived from our information; is via mail at: [email protected]. : MUSSINI® (10 662) : MUSSINI® (10 790) therefore the use of the products must be adapted to the users' individual condi- 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 · Tel.: +49-211-2509-0 · www.schmincke.de · [email protected] 02/2014.