From sadness to joy. The Pantone Institute named the color of 2020

/ Decor /

The Pantone color institute has decided on the main shade of the coming year. It was Classic Blue under the number 19-4052. According to the creative director of the Institute, Leatris Eizman, "Classic blue" should inspire calmness and confidence - qualities that are so lacking in the modern world.

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!

Burial mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (gold, lapis lazuli, quartz, carnelian, limestone, earthenware), XIV century AD.

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.

Louis IX the Saint, king of France in 1226-1270. Painting "Saint Louis, King of France", El Greco, 1592-1595.

Coat of arms of King Louis IX of France

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.

"Madonna with Harpies" by Andrea del Sarto, 1517

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.

The Amiens Cathedral was built in the 13th century with the money of merchants who traded in the vegetable dye Vaid

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.

LEVI'S advertising poster. Classic jeans are dyed indigo

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.

"Snowstorm. Hannibal's Crossing of the Alps" by William Turner, 1812.

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.

"Starry Night", Vincent van Gogh, 1889

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.

Yves Klein believed that the only color that embodies the infinity of the universe is blue. The illustration shows a portrait of Yves Klein during the filming of Peter Morel's film "The Heartbeat of France", 1961

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.