Color: Prussian Blue | Country: Germany

It was an accident in a Berlin laboratory in 1704 that changed the course of art forever. Johann Konrad Dippel, a somewhat shady pharmacist, sold a batch of potash contaminated by animal blood to pigment maker Diesbach who was rushing to create a batch of Red Lake from cochineal ( bugs) and iron sulfate(potash). The contaminated potash turned what was meant to be red into a deep blue because of the iron in the blood. It was an important discovery, because before this, the only other blue pigment available was the exorbitantly priced ultramarine blue. Dippel, realizing it was his contaminated potash that created the color, kept the chemical composition a secret and amassed a fortune selling the color originally dubbed “Berlin blue”, 20 years later, when another English scientist figured it out.

European artists found the pigment revolutionary, as did the Japanese. Hokusai’s famous Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1830 used the new Prussian blue in combination with the traditional indigo. Later, just came back full circle to Europe in Van Gogh’s Starry Night, which reflects the impact of Hokusai’s work.

Over time, the original recipe for Prussian blue was discovered to be inconsistent in lightfastness. In a study conducted by the National Gallery in London, it was determined that this was due to the addition of white in tinting. White increased the reflection of light from within the paint layer. They also discovered that after being temporarily stored in a dark space with good airflow, the faded color recovers. Hence many museums rotate their displayed collections to ensure that works containing Prussian Blue have time to recuperate.

Oddly Prussian Blue isn’t just used for dyes and paints. Doctors use it as a treatment for radiation poisoning.

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