Lapis Lazuli
A pigment made from the precious stone Lapis Lazuli found in Central Asia. It was used since ancient times as a simple ground up mineral but until the Persians developed a means of extraction of the coloring agent it was a poor weak color of limited use called either ground Lapis Lazuli or Lazuline Blue. The mines in Afghanistan have been continually worked for as much as 7,000 years. Ancient artworks in Mesopotamia show the use of Lazuline Blue. The Persian extraction process turned a weak mineral pigment into a major art material that is associated with the Renaissance. It is made by pulverizing and then extracting the coloring mineral from the native stone in a process using lye. Cennini gives the recipe in his book but for many years its origins and manufacture were a matter of mystery. It arrived in Venice on Arab Dhows and it was simply known as the pigment from overseas ('ultra marine') It was literally worth it's weight in gold and was a similar price to pigment made from gold itself. Artist's could not afford to just use it at whim as only princes and large wealthy churches could afford it and it's use would be written into contracts. More than one artist was caught after being paid a premium for using Ultramarine and then substituting alternative and cheaper pigments. Slightly less fraudulent was for an artist to paint a blue area with Azurite then glaze a thin layer of Ultramarine over that. Synthetic Ultramarine is chemically identical, although usually a more more reddish shade. The genuine pigment supply was disrupted by the wars in Afghanistan over recent years but the color is available as both pigment and paint by special order. At the darkest hours of war a tiny tube cost around $500. Prices have fallen since then and new supplies have come on stream from Chile and near Lake Baikal in Russia. For the first time in many years it is becoming easy to purchase genuine Ultramarine in tubes. One American company even offers it as an Acrylic Paint. Most obsolete pigments disappeared because they are either poisonous or impermanent, but Lapis Lazuli is an absolutely permanent and non-toxic pigment that was replaced due to cost alone, and it is interesting that whenever the cost of Lapis Lazuli falls a little its usage increases, although with synthetic Ultramarine being one of the cheapest pigments, genuine Lapis will never regain its previous position at the pinnacle of pigments.