The history of blue pigments in the Fine Arts – painting, from the perspective of a paint maker

Abstract

In this text, | will introduce you to the colour blue, how and why we see it and when we, as a species, started to discover and use its various versions. I only cover blue pigments as opposed to dyes. Many of the blues that I discuss are known by several names depending on locality, the age in which they were used and, at times, slight variations of their chemical makeup. I do not look at blue dyes mainly due to their inherent lack of lightfastness (and, therefore, usefulness to the artist)