The Secret History of the Color Blue

2. Synthetic blue

The Egyptians loved the precious stones lapis and turquoise so much that they invented the first synthetic blue pigment in order to affordably copy their unique color. “Egyptian blue” was made by mixing silica, lime, copper, and alkali, and it could be used on stone, wood, plaster, papyrus and canvas. The many decorative objects that have survived until today attest to the presence of blue in Egyptian life.

This blue-painted pot made during the Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1543–1292 BCE) is just one of the hundreds of “Egyptian blue” artifacts that can be found on Google Arts & Culture.

3. Royal blue

In Early Modern Europe, blue textile dye was made from woad, a flowering plant native to the Mediterranean. During the Middle Ages, the cultivation of woad in England, France, and Germany helped many towns and regions become extraordinarily rich. However, because the dye was expensive to produce and not steadfast, it was used by the wealthy and became associated with nobility.

The working class wore brown and green while the Kings wore blue. This 15th century illumination shows the French Kings Charlemagne and Louis wearing rich robes of ermine fur, blue silk, and gold embroidery. Louis XII kneels on a blue silk cushion and even his sword is blue!

4. Virginal blue

Blue wasn’t only an expensive textile dye, it was also an extremely expensive pigment for painters (more on that to come...). Because of its cost, it was only used for the most important subjects.

In the Renaissance, nobody was more important than the Virgin Mary. Because she was almost always painted wearing blue, the color became synonymous with purity, humility, and the divine.

5. Ultramarine bling

Painters had to grind up the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli in order to make ultramarine, the deep blue pigment that is the hallmark of many Renaissance paintings. The name comes from the Latin ultramarinus, meaning “beyond the sea”, because the stones were imported from mines in Afghanistan by Italian traders in the 14th and 15th century. Ultramarine was so expensive that some paintings were never finished because the painter couldn’t afford to buy more pigment. Even Michelangelo couldn’t afford it and Raphael used it only for a top coat.

But Titian was famous for his lavish use of ultramarine, as seen in this painting of Bacchus and Ariadne with its vast expanse of blue sky.

7. If you can’t copy it…

The Europeans tried to copy Chinese porcelain (unsuccessfully!) for hundreds of years. Indeed, China and porcelain were so intertwined, that porcelain was often simply called ‘china.’ When the secrets were eventually leaked in the early 18th century, manufacturers sprang up all over Europe attempting to make local equivalents.

Josiah Wedgwood set up his English firm in 1759 where he perfected a new technique called ‘jasperware’. It took him 3,000 attempts to get the right shade of 'Portland Blue' for his first piece, which was inspired by the Roman-era "Portland Vase" on view in the British Museum.

8. Color Wars

Blue was expensive to use for paintings and porcelain, but it was much cheaper to use for clothing. Over time, blue fabric became so common in Europe that it was worn by men and women from all social classes. But the arrival of a new blue dye called ‘indigo’ rocked the European textile trade in the 16th century.

Imported from Asia, indigo was more concentrated and produced a richer, more stable blue. Fearing for the national textile economy, the French, German, and British governments tried to block the import of indigo in the 16th and 17th centuries. The blockade was in vain and indigo eventually replaced woad, destroying several industrial centers in the process.

10. The purest blue of all

Between 1947 and 1957, the French artist Yves Klein perfected what he considered the purest blue of all. He registered International Klein Blue (IKB) as a trademark and the deep ultramarine became his signature. He painted over 200 canvases with the color, as many sculptures, and even painted models in IKB so they could “print” their bodies onto canvas. Klein considered his blue “extra-dimensional,” meaning that it would take the viewer outside the canvas itself. Trippy!

Today blue textile dyes and pigments are mainly synthetic, but the color still holds the same powerful symbolism as it did when it was a rare and costly shade. Flags, sports teams, and uniforms often use blue to symbolize unity and power. But the color is also ambiguous: “to feel blue” denotes sadness, while “blue skies” are equated with optimism and happiness. What does blue mean to you?

Explore more artworks in shades of blue here.