In the ancient world File:Lapis bowl Iran, AO 26477.jpg|
Lapis lazuli bowl from Iran, end of 3rd – beginning of 2nd millennium BC (Louvre Museum) File:Tripodic goblet Louvre AO4079.jpg|
Egyptian blue tripodic beaker imitating lapis lazuli. South Mesopotamia. (1399-1200 BC) File:WLA metmuseum Wall painting Polyphemus and Galaltea 4.jpg|Fresco of Polyphemus and Galatea, Pompei, using
Egyptian blue (1st c. BC) (Metropolitan Museum) As early as the
7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the
Sar-i Sang mines, in
Shortugai, and in other mines in
Badakhshan province in northeast
Afghanistan. Lapis lazuli artefacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at
Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of
Indus Valley civilisation. Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (7570–1900 BC). Lapis beads have been found at
Neolithic burials in
Mehrgarh, the
Caucasus, and as far away as
Mauritania. It was used in the
funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC). A term for Blue was relatively rare in many forms of ancient art and decoration, and even in ancient literature. The Ancient Greek poets described the sea as green, brown or "the colour of wine". The colour is mentioned several times in the
Hebrew Bible as '
tekhelet'. Reds, blacks, browns, and ochres are found in
cave paintings from the Upper
Paleolithic period, but not blue. Blue was also not used for dyeing fabric until long after red, ochre, pink, and purple. This is probably due to the perennial difficulty of making blue dyes and pigments. On the other hand, the rarity of blue pigment made it even more valuable. The earliest known blue dyes were made from plants –
woad in Europe,
indigo in Asia and Africa, while blue pigments were made from minerals, usually either
lapis lazuli or
azurite, and required more. Blue glazes posed still another challenge since the early blue dyes and pigments were not thermally robust. In , the blue glaze
Egyptian blue was introduced for ceramics, as well as many other objects. The Greeks imported indigo dye from India, calling it indikon, and they painted with Egyptian blue. Blue was not one of the four primary colours for Greek painting described by
Pliny the Elder (red, yellow, black, and white). For the Romans, blue was the colour of mourning, as well as the colour of barbarians. The Celts and Germans reportedly dyed their faces blue to frighten their enemies, and tinted their hair blue when they grew old. The Romans made extensive use of indigo and Egyptian blue pigment, as evidenced, in part, by frescos in
Pompeii. The Romans had many words for varieties of blue, including , , , , , , , and , but two words, both of foreign origin, became the most enduring; , from the Germanic word
blau, which eventually became
bleu or blue; and , from the Arabic word , which became azure. Blue was widely used in the decoration of churches in the Byzantine Empire. By contrast, in the Islamic world, blue was of secondary to green, believed to be the favourite colour of the
Prophet Mohammed. At certain times in
Moorish Spain and other parts of the Islamic world, blue was the colour worn by Christians and Jews, because only Muslims were allowed to wear white and green.
In the Middle Ages File:Vitraux Saint-Denis 190110 19.jpg|Stained glass window at
Saint Denis Basilica (1130–1140), coloured with
cobalt blue File:Vitrail Chartres Notre-Dame 210209 1.jpg|Detail of the Blue Virgin Window,
Chartres Cathedral (12th c.) File:Wilton diptych.jpg|The
Wilton Diptych (1395–1399). The
Virgin Mary was traditionally shown in blue(14th c.) In the art and life of Europe during the early
Middle Ages, blue played a minor role. This changed dramatically between 1130 and 1140 in Paris, when the
Abbe Suger rebuilt the
Saint Denis Basilica. Suger considered that light was the visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit. He installed
stained glass windows coloured with
cobalt, which, combined with the light from the red glass, filled the church with a bluish violet light. The church became the marvel of the
Christian world, and the colour became known as the . In the years that followed even more elegant blue stained glass windows were installed in other churches, including at
Chartres Cathedral and
Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. In the 12th century the Roman Catholic Church dictated that painters in Italy (and the rest of Europe consequently) to paint the Virgin Mary with blue, which became associated with holiness, humility and virtue. In medieval paintings, blue was used to attract the attention of the viewer to the Virgin Mary. Paintings of the mythical
King Arthur began to show him dressed in blue. The coat of arms of the kings of France became an azure or light blue shield, sprinkled with golden
fleur-de-lis or lilies. Blue had come from obscurity to become the royal colour.
Renaissance through 18th century Blue came into wider use beginning in the Renaissance, when artists began to paint the world with perspective, depth, shadows, and light from a single source. In Renaissance paintings, artists tried to create harmonies between blue and red, lightening the blue with lead white paint and adding shadows and highlights.
Raphael was a master of this technique, carefully balancing the reds and the blues so no one colour dominated the picture.
Ultramarine was the most prestigious blue of the Renaissance, being more expensive than gold. Wealthy art patrons commissioned works with the most expensive blues possible. In 1616
Richard Sackville commissioned a portrait of himself by
Isaac Oliver with three different blues, including ultramarine pigment for his stockings. File:Oliver Richard Sackville Earl of Dorset 1616.jpg|Portrait of Richard Sackville (1616), using three expensive blues, including ultramarine for his stockings File:MET DP251168.jpg|
Ming dynasty, Porcelain vase painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze. (15th c.) (Metropolitan Museum) File:Delftware plaque with New Testament scene 002.jpg|
Delftware plaque with cobalt blue painting (1683) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) File:Portrait of Louis XIV of France in Coronation Robes (by Hyacinthe Rigaud) - Louvre Museum.jpg|Portrait of King
Louis XIV in coronation robes, by
Hyacinthe Rigaud (c. 1700) (Louvre Museum) File:Urn with cover MET DP104608.jpg|Urn by
Josiah Wedgwood (1780s) (Metropolitan Museum) File:Queen Maria I of Portugal (1734-1816) in an 18th century painting.jpg|Queen
Maria I of Portugal (late 1700s) File:Johannes Vermeer - Girl with a Pearl Earring - WGA24666.jpg|
Girl with a Pearl Earring by
Johannes Vermeer features
ultramarine pigment An industry for the manufacture of fine blue and white pottery began in the 14th century in
Jingdezhen, China, using white Chinese porcelain decorated with patterns of
cobalt blue, imported from Persia. It was first made for the family of the Emperor of China, then was exported around the world, with designs for export adapted to European subjects and tastes. The Chinese blue style was also adapted by Dutch craftsmen in
Delft and English craftsmen in
Staffordshire in the 17th-18th centuries. in the 18th century, blue and white porcelains were produced by
Josiah Wedgwood and other British craftsmen.
19th-20th century File:BrummellDighton1805.jpg|
Beau Brummell (1776–1840) introduced the ancestor of the modern blue suit File:D. Maria II (1834) - Joaquim Rafael (Museu Militar de Lisboa).png|Queen
Maria II of Portugal in a blue and
gold embroidered gown (1835) File:A Miner in His Cabin.jpg|A California gold miner in blue jeans (1853) File:Ferdinand Krumholz Isabel do Brasil 1853.jpg|
Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil in light blue gown (1853) File:New York Metropolitan Police Uniforms 1871.jpg|New York City police in 1871 The early 19th century saw the ancestor of the modern blue business suit, created by
Beau Brummell (1776–1840), who set fashion at the London Court. It also saw the invention of
blue jeans, a highly popular form of workers's costume, invented in 1853 by
Jacob W. Davis who used metal rivets to strengthen blue
denim work clothing in the California gold fields. The invention was funded by San Francisco entrepreneur
Levi Strauss, and spread around the world.
Henri Matisse expressed deep emotions with blue, "A certain blue penetrates your soul." In the second half of the 20th century, painters of the
abstract expressionist movement use blues to inspire ideas and emotions. Painter
Mark Rothko observed that colour was "only an instrument;" his interest was "in expressing human emotions tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on". == In society and culture ==