Egyptian blue: modern myths, ancient realities

Abstract

Colours containing bright and saturated blue hues were popular for painterly effects in most of the Mediterranean cultures dating from the Bronze Age to the fall of the Roman Empire. Pigments providing the desired blue were produced from precious minerals such as azurite and lapis lazuli, but bright blue hues also came from pigments produced by merging other naturally occurring sources. This large group of synthetically-generated blue frits is referred to as Egyptian blue. Egyptian blue is a calcium copper tetrasilicate compound, a synthetic pigment made by heating a calcium compound (such as powdered limestone and sand rich in calcium carbonate) together with copper and quartz (fig. 1), although synthetic blue pigments based on cobalt are also known, so far mainly in Egypt (such as “Amarna-blue”). The hue of Egyptian blue pigments ranges from a saturated, almost black blue to light blue, bluish-green, and purple, each being dependent on the materials employed for its production and manufacturing process. Its material properties are crystal-like, resembling finely shattered glass. It ranges in saturation and brightness (which can be enhanced by secondary heating), and it has a relatively low covering power. It seems to have ceased being widely applied sometime after the fall of the empire, which added a certain mystery to it.