The Rarest Pigment in the World | Colour the Spectrum of Science | BBC Science
Summary
TLDRIn his London studio, artist and historian David Margulis explores the rarest minerals and pigments, with a focus on lapis lazuli, a deep blue pigment from Afghanistan. Once more precious than gold, lapis lazuli was used in Renaissance Italy as a status symbol, often adorning the robes of Mary in paintings. Margulis demonstrates the transformation of the rock into pigment, revealing the sulfur's role in creating ultramarine blue, a color that mirrors the sky and requires the immense pressures and temperatures of planet formation.
Takeaways
- 🎨 David Margulis is an artist and historian with a passion for the color blue, particularly lapis lazuli.
- 🌏 Lapis lazuli is sourced from a single mountain in Afghanistan, making it rare and valuable.
- 💎 Historically, lapis lazuli was the most precious and expensive pigment, even more so than gold during the Renaissance in Italy.
- 🌌 The blue color of lapis lazuli is so striking that it was thought to resemble the sky fallen to earth.
- 🖼️ Lapis lazuli was used prominently in paintings, particularly for the robes of Mary, by artists like Titian.
- 🔮 The pigment has a mystical quality, which contributed to its use in religious and symbolic art.
- 🔨 To create the pigment, lapis lazuli is hammered into a fine powder, releasing its color for the first time.
- 💨 The process of grinding the rock produces a strong sulfur smell, which is a key component of the blue color.
- 🧪 The unique chemical composition of lapis lazuli, including sulfur combined with other elements, produces the deep blue ultramarine pigment.
- 🖌️ The final step in creating the pigment involves mixing the blue powder with oil and wax to form paint.
- 🌐 The formation of lapis lazuli's color is a result of geological processes involving high pressures and temperatures.
Q & A
Who is David Margulis?
-David Margulis is an artist, historian, and devotee of the color blue who works with some of the rarest minerals and pigments on earth in his London studio.
What is the significance of lapis lazuli in the script?
-Lapis lazuli is a rare blue pigment that holds a special place in the script due to its beauty and historical significance. It is noted for being the most precious and expensive pigment, originating from Afghanistan.
Why is lapis lazuli considered rare and valuable?
-Lapis lazuli is considered rare and valuable because it is derived from a single mountain in Afghanistan, and blue pigments are uncommon in nature, making it a spectacular and desirable commodity.
How did the discovery of lapis lazuli impact Europe?
-The discovery of lapis lazuli had a significant impact on Europe, especially during the Renaissance in Italy, where it was so expensive that it was valued equivalent to gold, serving as a status symbol.
What is the mystical quality attributed to lapis lazuli?
-Lapis lazuli is attributed a mystical quality, often used in paintings to depict the robes of Mary, and is associated with a sense of entrancing beauty.
Which famous artist is known for using lapis lazuli?
-Titian is probably the most famous artist to have used lapis lazuli for its unique blue color in his paintings.
What is the process of creating paint from lapis lazuli as described in the script?
-The process involves hammering the rock until it becomes a fine blue powder, which is then mixed with oil and wax to create paint.
What element in lapis lazuli is responsible for its blue color?
-Sulfur is the element responsible for the blue color in lapis lazuli. The unique combination of sulfur with other elements in the rock produces the deep rich blue known as ultramarine.
Why is the smell of sulfur mentioned in the script?
-The smell of sulfur is mentioned because when the lapis lazuli rock is broken down, it releases a strong sulfur smell, indicating the presence of sulfur which is key to the rock's blue color.
How does the script describe the transformation of the lapis lazuli rock into paint?
-The script describes the transformation as a process where the rock, which looks like it fell from the sky, is turned into a pigment and then mixed with oil and wax to become paint, symbolizing it becoming sky all over again.
What geological conditions are necessary for the creation of lapis lazuli's color?
-The script suggests that the creation of lapis lazuli's color requires the extreme pressures and temperatures that are associated with the formation of planets.
Outlines
🎨 The Artistic and Historical Significance of Lapis Lazuli
David Margulis, an artist and historian in London, is captivated by the color blue and works with rare minerals and pigments, with a particular focus on lapis lazuli. This blue pigment, derived from a single mountain in Afghanistan, was historically the most precious and costly. Its rarity and striking color made it a symbol of status and wealth, especially during the Renaissance in Italy where it was as valuable as gold. Margulis explores the mystical quality of lapis lazuli, which was often used to paint the robes of Mary in religious art, with Titian being a notable practitioner. He also delves into the process of transforming the rock into paint, starting with physically breaking it down into a fine blue powder that releases a strong sulfur smell, indicative of the chemical composition that gives lapis lazuli its unique color. The final step involves mixing the blue powder with oil and wax to create paint, symbolizing a transformation from a rock that seems to have fallen from the sky to a color that recreates the sky itself.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡David Margulis
💡Lapis Lazuli
💡Ultramarine
💡Sulfur
💡Pigment
💡Trade Routes
💡Renaissance Italy
💡Titian
💡Status Symbol
💡Transformation
💡Chemistry
Highlights
David Margulis is an artist, historian, and devotee of the color blue.
He works with some of the rarest minerals and pigments on earth, especially the blues.
Lapis lazuli is the most spectacular blue pigment, originating from a mountain in Afghanistan.
Lapis lazuli was the most precious and expensive pigment historically.
The rarity of blue in nature made lapis lazuli a spectacular find.
The idea that lapis lazuli might have been thought of as the sky fallen to earth is enchanting.
Lapis lazuli's impact on Europe was significant when trade routes from the east opened up.
In Renaissance Italy, lapis lazuli was as expensive as gold, a status symbol.
Lapis lazuli was visibly displayed in paintings to showcase wealth and status.
Lapis lazuli has a mystical quality, often used in paintings of the Virgin Mary's robes.
Titian is a famous artist known for using lapis lazuli in his paintings.
The process of transforming lapis lazuli into paint involves hammering the rock into powder.
Sulfur is what gives lapis lazuli its blue color, with a strong smell during the grinding process.
The unique combination of sulfur with other elements in lapis lazuli produces ultramarine blue.
The final step in creating paint from lapis lazuli involves mixing the blue powder with oil and wax.
The color of lapis lazuli is a result of the chemistry within the rock's atoms.
The transformation of the rock into its vibrant blue requires pressures and temperatures akin to planetary formation.
Transcripts
I'm about to enter a
very different world.
David Margulis is an artist, historian
and devotee of the color blue
in his London studio,
he works
with some of the rarest minerals
and pigments on earth.
Among them all
the most spectacular are the blues.
And one blue in particular takes
pride of place on the shelves.
This is a piece of lapis
lazuli that's come from the one mountain
in Afghanistan.
So the important thing here
is this blue color,
and that is lapis lazuli.
It is.
It was the most precious
and most expensive of all the pigments.
There aren't many blue things in nature,
so this must have been
a spectacular thing to display
and to find.
Someone
had walked through the mountains
of Afghanistan
and come across Blue stone,
and it makes me wonder
whether they believed
the sky had fallen to
the earth and turned to the rock.
I love the idea.
The sky had fallen into a rock.
That's exactly what it looks
like, isn't it?
The color is so stunning.
I can imagine the impact
it must have made
when Lapis first arrived in Europe.
When trade routes from
the east opened up.
It was seen as extremely valuable.
In Renaissance Italy,
it was so expensive,
it was the equivalent
of the price of gold.
To have this was a status symbol,
and the most visible way of having
it was to put it on a painting,
because you could
paint this color onto a big canvas
and show that you had this commodity.
So it's not a subtle way
of displaying your status.
Saying for everyone to see.
Nothing such as sutile at all.
I think the most important aspect is
that Lapis does have
a slightly mystical quality.
So when it came to painting, quite often
the blue was used
to paint the robes of Mary,
probably the most
famous artist to have used it is Titian.
The something entrancing
about this color.
But to discover
what it can tell us about our planet,
I need to do what painters do
and get right inside this rock.
An artist is presented
with a lump of this rock,
and they have to make paint out of it.
What do they do?
They hammer it.
However sophisticated.
Hammer it until it gets
smaller and smaller.
It was quite satisfying
this.
This is the first time it's been a color
because this has never
seen daylight before.
But the rock I've just smashed
is just become a color
for the first time.
So the next one along.
So now we've got lots of broken up
little bits
and you can start to see
some blue powder.
That's right.
And that's what the pigments is.
It's the powder when it becomes a powder.
It's it's
such a horrible noise.
You might smell it as well.
Oh, there's a really strong smell of sulfur.
It is sulfur.
Sulfur is what makes the rock blue.
And then the final stage when it's broken
down is
is what we've got in the last one year.
This is the blue.
This thing I've ever seen.
It's the chemistry of this rock
that creates its color.
Sulfur more often produces
yellowish compounds.
This is lovely, lovely stuff.
But in lapis lazuli,
the unique combination
of sulfur
with other elements
produces this deep rich blue
we call ultramarine.
This is it.
This is the final step.
The blue powder has been mixed with oil
and some wax. It's a paint.
And so this rock that looks like it
fell from
the sky is becoming sky all over again.
When we
look at this, we just see a blue rock.
But the secret to that color,
it's hidden in the atoms
that make this up.
But the atoms themselves aren't enough.
To get this, you need to transform them.
For a transformation
to this dramatic blue,
you need the sorts of pressures
and temperatures
with which planets are forged.
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