
Medieval books reveal the extreme methods with which artists achieved their reds - Petiver
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/02/14/the-red-of-painters/
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aleyan
For a brief history of all the other colors, I recommend looking at this
veritable hokum post[0]. Make sure to look at the expanded timeline with
explanations below infographic.

[0] [http://www.veritablehokum.com/comic/mummy-brown-and-other-
hi...](http://www.veritablehokum.com/comic/mummy-brown-and-other-historical-
colors/)

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danielam
There's a mention of Mexican cochineal, but nothing about what it supplanted
in Europe, the Polish cochineal, which was traded widely in Europe.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_cochineal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_cochineal)

I also found this bit from the MET:

[https://issuu.com/metmuseum/docs/cochineal_winter_2010_bulle...](https://issuu.com/metmuseum/docs/cochineal_winter_2010_bulletin)

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analog31
I don't remember the source, but apparently one of the many analyses of
Stradivarius violins concluded that one of his red pigments was from the
Americas.

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ianvanness
And for a much broader look at artists' use of color over time, check out the
book "Color A Natural History Of The Palette".

[0] [http://www.powells.com/book/color-a-natural-history-of-
the-p...](http://www.powells.com/book/color-a-natural-history-of-the-
palette-9780812971422/62-0)

