Triptych

Pigments (continued)

Vermilion

A bright scarlet red pigment obtained from heating metallic mercury with sulphur. The quality of the pigment produced improved the finer it was ground with water.

In addition to its use for bright red drapery, vermilion was used as a tinting pigment with lead white for painting flesh.

Red lake

A pigment produced by the absorption of a red dyestuff on to a colourless base material.

Sources of the red dyestuff include the red secretion from a variety of types of insect such as the kermes scale insect from the Mediterranean (one of the most expensive dyes), or the Polish cochineal insect, or the gum lac from an Asian scale insect the Kerria lacca.

Other sources include those from plants such as wood from the Caesalpinia from eastern Asia. Lake pigments had a translucent property, which led to their use as a glaze over other paints.