Vermilion (from French vermillon or Catalan vermilion ), occasionally called vermilion, is a semi-dark orange- red color , of intense saturation, which responds to the coloration of artificial cinnabar powder also known as “vermilion” (mercury sulfide obtained by sublimation) A sample of the specific color of this substance is given in the large box.
Cinnabar itself has also been called “vermilion.”
The natural vermilion pigment is a dull reddish-orange color, and results from pulverizing the mineral cinnabar. Chemically it is, like artificial vermilion, mercury sulfide (HgS). Like all mercury compounds, it is toxic (see mercury poisoning).
Denomination in the International Color Index
Pigment Red 106, PR 106 CI 777664
The use of the term “vermilion” in Spanish dates from the year 1423.
Summary
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- 1 History
- 2 Other traditional uses
- 3 The current pictorial vermilion
- 4 References
History
There is evidence of the prehistoric use of cinnabar as a pigment in Spain, in the cave paintings near Almadén. It was also used to color and preserve human skeletal remains about 5,000 years ago, as evidenced by the find made in the La Velilla dolmen, in Palencia, Spain.5 6 In China it was used since the second millennium BC7 It was known also by the ancient Greeks and Romans; 7 Pliny the Elder stated that it had become so expensive that the price had to be set by the Roman government. In pre-Columbian America cinnabar powder was used to decorate surfaces and color human remains.
The synthesis of vermilion from sulfur and mercury may have been invented by the Chinese, and disclosed by the techniques of the alchemists; the earliest known description of the process dates from the 8th century.8 9
In the first European illuminated manuscripts, towards the eleventh century, we find vermilion used sparingly, due to its prohibitive price, since during the Middle Ages it was painted only with natural vermilion; 10 but towards the fourteenth century the technique of preparing the Vermilion spreads throughout Europe, and by the early 15th century this pigment was already used generously in manuscripts.
The early Renaissance painter Cennino Cennini wrote that the vermilion with which he was familiar was prepared artificially, but it used to be adulterated by adding minium or ground brick, so he recommended buying it in whole blocks, because when buying it in powder it could not be be sure that it had not been forged.
Other traditional uses
In India, it is a common practice among married women of Brahmin cultures to apply a fine line of vermilion, in the middle of the part of the hairstyle, as a sign of their marriage.
The current pictorial vermilion
As mentioned, the vermilion for artistic painting has been almost entirely replaced by cadmium red, so that its color does not necessarily correspond to that of historical vermilion pigments.
