These quirky stories about pigment making from the past are completely irresistible, and Philip Ball's book, Bright Earth, is full of lively tales. The herb indigo is considered a dye rather than a pigment and is sometimes described as a lake (lac) pigment which is a commonly used word for dye. Ball quotes from a twelfth century manuscript: … [Read more...] about More Dung Stories
Bright Earth
Monks Seeing Red
Very early manuscripts document both the manufacture and use of vermilion. Some called this indispensable color the prince of reds which was more brilliant than the natural cinnabar. Theophilus (Roger of Helmarshausen)the Benedictine Monk, described the alchemical synthesis in his technical handbook De diversis artibus (On Divers Arts … [Read more...] about Monks Seeing Red