History of Egyptian blue:
One of the oldest synthetic pigments. It was used by Egyptians for thousands of years. It is considered to be the first synthetic pigment. The pigment was known to the Romans by the name caeruleum.Vitruvius describes in his work de architectura how it was produced by grinding sand, copper and natron and heating the mixture, shaped into small balls, in a furnace. Lime is necessary for the production as well, but probably lime-rich sand was used. After the Roman era Egyptian Blue was not used anymore. Finally, it was only at the beginning of the 19th century that there was a renewed interest in learning more about its manufacture when it was investigated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1815 and others such as W. T. Russell and Foque.
When was Egyptian blue used?
| Discovery | Used until |
|---|---|
| Antiquity (Egyptian) | Antiquity (Romans) |
(intro) - Azurite - Cerulean Blue - Cobalt blue - Egyptian blue - Prussian blue - Smalt - Ultramarine