Ultramarine Blue is often regarded as the king of blues and it is clearly the most popular blue in artists paints. It first appeared in Europe at the beginning of the Italian Renaissance, probably brought in as an exotic curiosity by Arab dhows trading in Venice. The color was at that point sensational and had spread from Persia to India, China, and now Europe. It cost as much as the same weight in gold and only the aristocracy could afford paintings made with it which tended to increase its reputation as something very special. Italian artists knew nothing of its origins apart from the fact that Persians brought it in on boats and so it became known as Ultramarine Blue which literally means “the blue from overseas”. During this period artists would be forced to use the pigment since its use would be specified in contracts, and many artists would attempt to adulterate the color or use other tricks such as painting a blue area with the far cheaper azurite and then glazing a thin layer of Ultramarine Blue over the top. This became easy to do once oil paint became established and only ended when Europeans learned how to make the color and the costs slowly dropped for the pigment. After the development of synthetic Ultramarine Blue in the 1830’s the cost of the color became almost as low as cheap ochre and the usage of the color skyrocketed.
Chemical Description: Sodium aluminosulphosilicate
Pigment Number: PB29
Lightfastness Rating: ASTM I
Pigment Opacity: Transparent
Paint Opacity: Transparent