However, the blue color as such has a dizzying history. He has accompanied a person since ancient times, sometimes gaining incredible popularity, then receiving a sacred status. And sometimes the ego was literally anathema - the Romans associated blue with the barbaric tribes of Celts and Germans, who dyed their hair and bodies blue with vegetable juice. Plyny the Elder in "Natural History" suggests avoiding this color in clothing.
Researchers believe that the ancient Greeks did not distinguish blue color - they called iris, periwinkle and cornflower red (erythros), then green (prasos), and sometimes even black (melas). And their sea was wine-colored!
But the precious lapis lazuli as a source of blue pigment was known to the ancient Egyptians and the inhabitants of Mezhdurechy. But due to its high cost, the mineral dye based on lapis lazuli was replaced by the world's first artificial one - silicate of calcium and copper. It was produced by grinding sand, lime and copper ore with subsequent heating in a red-hot furnace.
Wearing blue clothes in the Middle Ages meant dignity and wealth - perhaps that is why King Louis of France adopted it as a heraldic color. And he decorated the coat of arms with golden lilies scattered on an azure background.
The precious blue color of the clothes of the Mother of God and saints on Renaissance canvases is still the same fine powder of crushed Badakhshan lapis lazuli, brought from the sea (literally - ultra marinus), sold for its weight in gold. It is so expensive that the future owner of the painting or the church authorities who ordered the fresco first agreed with the artist on the weight of the blue pigment and its cost, and only then resolved the issue of remuneration to the author. The strong connection between the blue pigment and spiritual painting led to the fact that this color became associated with holiness, humility and virtue. Thus, the contract for the creation of the famous "Madonna with the Harpies" by Andrea del Sarto required the artist to use the best ultramarine costing "at least five full-weight florins per ounce" for the clothes of the Virgin.
Often, artists or clients would save money by using less expensive blue pigments such as azurite, smalt powder, or pigments made from indigo, and this sometimes caused problems. Over time, such paints became dark and faded into green shades. An example can be the dress of Mary in Raphael's "Madonna on the Throne with Saints". Azurite blue degraded on the canvas into a greenish-black color.
If blue in painting was noble and expensive, then blessed times came for dyeing clothes in this color during the Renaissance. In Toulouse, Amiens and Erfurt, professional guilds of dyers were formed, which earned capital for the trade in wool. Blue was not worn by nobles, but by artisans and workers. Pope Pius V excluded the blue color from the lists permitted for the decoration of the altar and church dress as too widespread.
It seemed that nothing could threaten the dyeing industry based on the use of vaida. But in the XNUMXth century, indigo entered Europe from India. Fermented leaves of a plant widely distributed in Asia, pressed into bricks, were easily delivered by ships to the ports of London, Marseille and Genoa. In countries where guilds of traditional dyers flourished, the authorities tried to block the use of indigo. Ego was outlawed, called "devil's potion", prohibited under the penalty of death. But the quality of the dye was so high, and the price so low that all efforts were in vain.
Synthetic dyes invented between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries gave a new impetus to the use of blue. William Turner, a tireless experimenter, used a new cobalt blue pigment for his canvases. Synthetic cobalt made the paintings of Monet and Renoir, who loved bright, pure unmixed colors, sound especially clear.
In 1802, French chemist Louis Jacques Thénard introduced an improved, more stable – and more expensive – version of cobalt blue. Van Gogh then wrote to his brother Theo: "Cobalt is a divine color, and there is nothing more beautiful..."
After World War II, blue was adopted as the color of important international organizations, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, the European Union, and NATO. UN peacekeepers wear blue helmets to emphasize their role.
With the rise of the Internet, blue became the standard color for hyperlinks in graphic browsers. And, of course, you can't help but remember the color of the Facebook logo.
Let us remind you that Pantone has chosen the main shade of the year for almost 20 years. Predictions of the Institute of Color, based on the analysis of many social trends, affect different sectors of the industry, including fashion and design.