I4o PAINTING MATERIALS
azurite, malachite, and lapis lazuli were known to the ancients and were used for
pigments in very early historic times. Since these minerals were not widely
distributed but were almost in the class of semi-precious stones, their earliest use
was restricted to the particular regions in which they were found. Long before
classical times, however, such minerals became articles of commerce and were
transported to regions far beyond their origin. There is archaeological evidence
of the use of cinnabar (see Vermilioa) as a pigment in China as early as the third
millenium B.C.; azurite (see Lucas, p. 283) was used in Egypt fully that early.
Artificial pigments came to be made almost with the beginning of written
history. There is evidence that the blue artificial pigment, copper calcium silicate,
more commonly known as Egyptian blue, was manufactured by 2000 B.C. and
perhaps much earlier (see Egyptian Blue). The artificial yellow and red oxides of
lead, as well as basic lead carbonate, were known in classical times and perhaps
much before that. And so was verdigris. There is knowledge of the use of these
from archaeological as well as from literary sources. It seems that artificial
vermilion was not known in the West that early but it is mentioned in the Arabic
alchemical writings of the VIII and IX centuries. It may have been made by the
Chinese centuries before.
The archaeological remains of ancient Egypt are rich in information about
pigments used for decorative and architectural purposes (see Lucas, pp. 282-292).
So are those of classical times, particularly of the later and more far-reaching
Roman period. Raehlmann has carefully described his findings made from studies
of Pompeian wall paintings, and Laurie (Greek and Roman Methods of Painting)
has commented generally on literary and archaeological information about
painting materials of classical times. The materials employed for pigments re-
mained much the same through the Dark Ages, and information about them
comes largely from direct observations on parchment illuminations. On the pages
of books, where light and moisture have been excluded, conditions have been
nearly ideal for the preservation of painting materials.
Pigments in mediaeval as in earlier times were still important articles of trade
and were carried for long distances. In value, some of them were in a class with
precious metals and stone, and, since they were light and not bulky, they were
easily transported. In Byzantine times, ultramarine (see Ultramarine Blue,
natural) began to be brought to Europe from the region of the headwaters of
the Oxus in modern Afghanistan, and for centuries remained the most precious
of all artists' colors. Ultramarine was carried north to Chinese Turkestan at
the same time, but it was probably only the bright, exotic pigment materials
that were carried such distances. The more sombre colors, apparently, were usually
obtained nearer at hand and for such colors there are perhaps greater geographical
limitations of use. The green earths, the siennas, and the umbers were first used
in Italy and adjacent regions because best supplies were found there and still are.
In later periods smalt seems to have been favored in the Low Countries because