| Vermilion (cinnabar) | |
|---|---|
 Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #E34234 |
| sRGBB (r,g,b) | (227, 66, 52) |
| HSV (h,s,v) | (5°, 77%, 89%) |
| CIELChuv (L,C,h) | (52, 130, 14°) |
| Source | Maerz and Paul[note 1] |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Vivid reddish orange |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) | |
Vermilion (sometimes spelledvermillion)[1] is a color family andpigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineralcinnabar (a form ofmercury sulfide). It is synonymous withred orange, which often takes a modern form, but is 11% brighter (at full brightness).[contradictory]
Used first in English in the 13th century, the wordvermilion came from theOld French wordvermeillon, which was derived fromvermeil, from theLatinvermiculus – the diminutive of the Latin wordvermis for worm.[2]
The name originated because it had a similar color to thenatural red dye made from an insect,Kermes vermilio, which was widely used in Europe.[2][3] The first recorded use of "vermilion" as a color name in English was in 1289.[4][5]
The termcinnabar is used inmineralogy andcrystallography for the red crystalline form ofmercury sulfide HgS. Thus, the natural mineral pigment is called "cinnabar", and its synthetic form is called "vermilion" fromred lead.[2]
Vermilion is a dense, opaque pigment with a clear, brilliant hue.[6] The pigment was originally made by grinding a powder ofcinnabar (mercury sulfide).[7] Like most mercury compounds, it istoxic.[8]
Vermilion is not one specific hue; mercuric sulfides make a range of warm hues, from bright orange-red to a duller reddish-purple that resembles fresh liver. Differences in hue are caused by the size of the ground particles of pigment. Larger crystals produce duller and less orange hues.
Cinnabar pigment was a side product of the mining of mercury, and mining cinnabar was difficult, expensive, and dangerous, because of the toxicity of mercury. Greek philosopherTheophrastus of Eresus (371–286 BC) described the process inDe Lapidibus, the first scientific book on minerals. Efforts began early to find a better way to make the pigment.
The Chinese were probably the first to make a synthetic vermilion as early as the fourth century BC. Greek alchemistZosimus of Panopolis (third–fourth century AD) wrote that such a method existed. In the early 9th century, the process was accurately described by Persian alchemistJabir ibn Hayyan (722–804) in his book of recipes of colors, and the process began to be widely used in Europe.[6][9]
The process described by Jabir ibn Hayyan was fairly simple:
When first created, the material is almost black. As it is ground, the red color appears. The longer the compound is ground, the finer the color becomes. Italian Renaissance artistCennino Cennini wrote: "If you were to grind it every day, even for 20 years, it would keep getting better and more perfect."[10]
In the 17th century, a new method of making the pigment was introduced, known as the Dutch method.[8] Mercury and melted sulfur were mashed to make blackmercury sulfide, then heated in aretort, producing vapors condensing as a bright, red mercury sulfide. To remove the sulfur, these crystals were treated with a strong alkali, washed, and finally ground under water to yield the commercial powder form of the pigment.[11] The pigment is still made today using essentially the same process.
Vermilion has one important defect; it is liable to darken, or develop a purplish-gray surface sheen.[6] Cennino Cennini wrote, "Bear in mind ... that it is not in its character to be exposed to air, but it is more resistant on panel than on walls since, when it is used and laid on a wall, over a period of time, standing in the air, it turns black."[12] Newer research indicates that chlorine ions and light may aid in decomposing vermilion into elemental mercury, which is black when in finely dispersed form.[13][14]
Vermilion was the primary red pigment used by European painters, from the Renaissance until the 20th century. Because of its cost and toxicity, though, it was almost entirely replaced by a new synthetic pigment,cadmium red, in the 20th century. As cadmium can also be toxic, some scientists propose replacing this with solid solutions of theperovskites CaTaO2N and LaTaON2.[15]
Genuine vermilion pigment today comes mostly from China; it is a synthetic mercuric sulfide, labeled on paint tubes as PR-106 (Red Pigment 106). The synthetic pigment is of higher quality than vermilion made from ground cinnabar, which has many impurities. The pigment is very toxic, and should be used with great care.[16]
![Vermilion has the property of darkening with time. The bridle of the horse in The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello in the National Gallery in London has turned from red to dark brown.[6]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPaolo_Uccello_035.jpg)
The colors are widely used in the art and decoration ofAncient Rome and theByzantine Empire, then in theilluminated manuscripts of theMiddle Ages, in the paintings of theRenaissance, and in the art andlacquerware of China.[17][18]
The first documented use of vermilion pigment, made with ground cinnabar, dates to 8000–7000 BC, and was found at theNeolithic village ofÇatalhöyük, in modern-day Turkey. Cinnabar was mined in Spain beginning in about 5300 BC. In China, the first documented use of cinnabar as a pigment was by theYangshao culture (5000–4000 BC), where it was used to paint ceramics, to cover the walls and floors of rooms, and for ritual ceremonies.[19]
The principal source of cinnabar for the ancient Romans was the Almaden mine in northwest Spain, which was worked by prisoners. Since the ore of mercury was highly toxic, a term in the mines was a near-guaranteed death sentence.Pliny the Elder described the mines this way:
Nothing is more carefully guarded. It is forbidden to break up or refine the cinnabar on the spot. They send it to Rome in its natural condition, under seal, to the extent of some ten thousand librae (Roman pounds thus 3289 kg) a year. The sales price is fixed by law to keep it from becoming impossibly expensive, and the price fixed is seventy sesterces a pound.[20]
In Rome, the precious pigment was used to paint frescoes, decorate statues, andeven as a cosmetic. InRoman triumphs, the victors had their faces covered with vermilion powder, and the face of Jupiter on theCapitoline Hill was also colored vermilion.[7] Cinnabar was used to paint the walls of some of the most luxurious villas inPompeii, including the Villa of the Mysteries (Italian:Villa dei Misteri).[7]Pliny reported its painters stole a large portion of the expensive pigment by frequently washing their brushes and saving the wash water.[21]
In theByzantine Empire, the use of cinnabar/the vermilion color was reserved for the use of the imperial family and administrators; official letters and imperial decrees were written in vermilion ink, made with cinnabar.[21]
Vermilion is known in the Hindu religion assindoor. It is commonly used by married Hindu women in India.[17]
Vermilion was also used by the native peoples of America, to paint ceramics, figurines, and murals, and for the decoration of burials. It was used in the Chavin civilization (400 BC – 200 AD), and in theMaya, Sican, Moche, andInca empires. The major source was the Huancavelica mine in theAndes mountains in central Peru.
The most dramatic example of vermilion use in the Americas was the so-calledTomb of the Red Queen, located in Temple XIII, in the ruins of the Mayan city ofPalenque in Chiapas, Mexico. The temple is dated to between 600 and 700 AD. It was discovered in 1994 by Mexican archeologistFanny López Jiménez. The body and all objects in the sarcophagus were covered with bright red vermilion powder made from cinnabar.[22][23][19]
The technique for making a synthetic vermilion by combining sulfur and mercury was in use in Europe in the 9th century, but the pigment was still expensive. Since it was almost as expensive as gold leaf, it was used only in the most important decoration of illuminated manuscripts, while the less expensiveminium, made withred lead, was used for the red letters and symbols in the text.
Vermilion was also used by painters in the Renaissance as a very vivid and bright red, though it did have the weakness of sometimes turning dark with time. Florentine artist Cennino Cennini described it in his handbook for artists:
This pigment is made byalchemy, prepared in aretort, which subject I will leave be since to put every method and recipe into my discussion would be too longwinded. The reason? Because if you care to take the trouble, you will find a lot of recipes for it, and particularly if you cultivate friendships with monks. But, so that you do not waste your time with the many different techniques, I advise you, just take what you can find at the apothecary's for your money. And I want to teach you how to buy it and how to recognise the good vermilion. Always buy solid vermilion and not crushed or ground. The reason? Because more often than not you are cheated either with red lead or crushed brick.[24]
By the 20th century, the cost and toxicity of vermilion led to its gradually being replaced by synthetic pigments, particularly cadmium red, which had a comparable color and opacity.
In China, the color vermilion played an important role in national culture. The color was mostly used in creating Chineselacquerware, which was exported around the world, giving rise to the term "Chinese red".
The lacquer came from theChinese lacquer tree, orToxicodendron vernicifluum, a relative ofpoison ivy andpoison sumac (not to be confused withsumac, which is in a different genus and is not toxic), which grew in regions of China,Korea, and Japan. The sap or resin of the tree, calledurushiol, was caustic and toxic (it contained the same chemical compound aspoison ivy), but painted onto wood or metal, it hardened into a fine natural plastic, or lacquer surface. The pure sap was dark brown, but beginning in about the third century BC, during theHan dynasty, Chinese artisans colored it with powdered cinnabar or withred ochre (ferric oxide), giving it an orange-red color.[25][26] Beginning in about the 8th century, Chinese chemists began making synthetic vermilion from mercury and sulfur, which reduced the price of the pigment and allowed the production of Chinese lacquerware on a larger scale.
The shade of red of the lacquerware has changed over the centuries. During the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD) the Chinese word for red referred to a light red. However, during theTang dynasty (618–907), when the synthetic vermilion was introduced, that color became darker and richer. The poetBai Juyi (772–846) wrote in asong poem praisingJiangnan, "the flowers by the river when the sun rises are redder than flames", and the word he used for red was the word for vermilion, or Chinese red.[27]
When Chinese lacquerware and the ground cinnabar used to color it were exported to Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, European collectors considered it to be finer than the European vermilion. In 1835, "Chinese vermilion" was described as a cinnabar so pure that it only had to be ground into powder to become a perfect vermilion. Historically, European vermilion often included adulterants including brick,orpiment,iron oxide,Persian red,iodine scarlet—andminium (red lead), an inexpensive and bright, butfugitive lead-oxide pigment.[28]
Since ancient times, vermilion was regarded as the color of blood, thus the color of life. It was used to paint temples and the carriages of the emperor, and as the printing paste for personalseals. It was also used for unique red calligraphic ink reserved for emperors. Chinese Taoists associated vermilion with eternity.
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![The painting of Saint Jerome by Masaccio (1428–29) featured a vivid robe painted with vermilion.[29]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMasaccio%2c_pala_colonna%2c_santi_girolamo_e_giovanni_battista.jpg)
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Vermilion is a two-part song by American metal bandSlipknot released in 2004. According to vocalist Corey Taylor: "For some reason, as soon as I heard it, all I could see was the colour red.".
The Dutch singerSimone Simons, released her debut solo album calledVermillion in 2024. On this album, the word vermillion was used for one of the song titles called "Vermillion Dreams" and also the album was called vermillion.
| Red-Orange | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #FF5349 |
| sRGBB (r,g,b) | (255, 83, 73) |
| HSV (h,s,v) | (3°, 71%, 100%) |
| CIELChuv (L,C,h) | (60, 138, 14°) |
| Source | Crayola |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Vivid red |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) | |
TheCrayola colorred-orange has been a Crayola color since 1930.
| Orange-Red | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #FF4500 |
| sRGBB (r,g,b) | (255, 69, 0) |
| HSV (h,s,v) | (16°, 100%, 100%) |
| CIELChuv (L,C,h) | (58, 158, 17°) |
| Source | X11 |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Vivid reddish orange |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) | |
Theweb colororange-red was formulated in 1987 as one of theX11 colors, which became known as theX11 web colors after the invention of theWorld Wide Web in 1991.
| Medium Vermilion | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #D9603B |
| sRGBB (r,g,b) | (217, 96, 59) |
| HSV (h,s,v) | (14°, 73%, 85%) |
| CIELChuv (L,C,h) | (56, 103, 21°) |
| Source | Plochere |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Strong reddish orange |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) | |
This color is the medium tone of vermilion calledvermilion on the Plochere color list, which was formulated in 1948 and is used widely by interior designers.
| Chinese Red | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #AA381E |
| sRGBB (r,g,b) | (170, 56, 30) |
| HSV (h,s,v) | (11°, 82%, 67%) |
| CIELChuv (L,C,h) | (40, 94, 17°) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Deep reddish orange |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) | |
Chinese red orChina red is the name used for the vermilion shade used in Chineselacquerware. The shade of the color can vary from dark to light depending upon how the pigment is made and how the lacquer was applied. Chinese red was originally made from the powdered mineral cinnabar, but beginning in about the 8th century it was made more commonly by a chemical process combining mercury and sulfur. Vermilion has significance inTaoist culture, and is regarded as the color of life and eternity.
"Chinese red" appears in English in 1924.[33]
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