Red Pigment from Cochineal Insect

choi

Elisabeth Malkin, When Europe's Art Turned Red. A Mexico City exhibition celebrates a dye made from cochineal insects. It changed the colors in paintings. New York Times, Nov 28, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/ ... o-city-history.html

Quote:

"Along with silver and gold, the first ships that sailed from the New World after the Spanish Conquest carried another treasure: a natural dye that produced a red so intense that European artists quickly embraced it as their own.  The trade in this dye reaped vast riches for the Spanish crown

"An exhibition that runs through Feb 4 at this city's [Mexico City's] Palace of Fine Arts, 'Mexican Red, the Cochineal in Art,' traces the journey of the color from the highlands of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica to Europe.

"The cochineal insect, a small parasite that feeds on the prickly pear cactus, was cultivated domestically in Mexico and Peru in pre-Hispanic times. The female was dried and crushed to extract the red carminic acid, and additives of different acidity produced shades that ranged from light pink to a deep purple. (The dye is still in use.)

"Because cochineal was the source of a more intense and lasting red than any of the pigments then available, demand soared for it as a dye


My comment
(a) There is no need to read the rest, because I have introduced the dye to you.

(b) Palacio de Bellas Artes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_de_Bellas_Artes
(i) Spanish-English dictionary:
* bellas artes (noun feminine; pl (plurale tantum) ): "fine arts"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bellas_artes
   ^ bello (adjective masculine: feminine singular bella, masculine plural bellos, feminine plural bellas; from Latin [adjective masculine] bellus [beautiful, handsome] ): "beautiful"
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bello#Spanish
   ^ arte (noun masculine and noun feminine; plural artes; from Latin arte, singular ablative of [noun feminine] ars, artis practical skill): "art"
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/arte#Spanish
(ii) plurale tantum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurale_tantum
(Latin for "plural only")

Latin-English dictionary:
* plūrālis (adj; neuter plūrāle): "plural"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pluralis
* tantum (adv): "only"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tantum

(c) Francisco de Zurbarán (1598 – 1664): "Zurbarán's 'Penitent Magdalene,' from the mid-17th century, shows its subject leaning on a table that is draped with a richly patterned red brocade."

https://www.allposters.com/-sp/T ... sters_i4944025_.htm

(d) Diego "Velázquez is represented by a portrait of the archbishop Fernando Valdés from the National Gallery in London, in which the subject is framed by a lush red curtain that symbolizes both his spiritual and temporal power."

Portrait of Archbishop Fernando de Valdés. National Gallery, undated
https://www.nationalgallery.org. ... -fernando-de-valdes
(Date made 1640-5; Inventory number NG6380)
(e) "The writer Amy Butler Greenfield has described how the Spanish hid the origin of cochineal to help preserve the crown's monopoly on it. But by the 18th century, there was no shortage of information on its preparation."

Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red; Empire, espionage, and the quest for the color of desire. HarperCollins, 2005.

(f) "Van Gogh, more than anyone, explored the properties of cochineal. The show features one of the three paintings known as 'The Bedroom,' which he painted at Arles near the end of his life. The cochineal in the original walls and doors, which he described to Theo as lilac 紫丁香 and violet, and in the warm rose of the floor have faded, but his intent persists."
(i) Bedroom in Arles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedroom_in_Arles (three photos for three versions)
(ii) lilac (color)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilac_(color)
(a pale violet tone representing the average color of most lilac flowers)
(iii) Sarah Everts, Van Gogh's Fading Colors Inspire Scientific Inquiry; Lessons learned from the chemical breakdown of pigments in the Post-Impressionist's masterpieces. C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News, 94: 32-33 (2016).
https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/ ... Colors-Inspire.html
(the last section with the heading: Digital Restoration: Projecting Original Colors Onto Faded Masterpieces)