STORY 2: STATUS SYMBOL

Throughout history, the act of painting as well as many different pigments became symbols of wealth. In the 1700s, watercolor painting became a very popular pastime among wealthy individuals (Pigments Through the Ages). Pigments that were rare and hard to obtain could only be afforded by wealthy individuals because it cost too much to create very small amounts of those pigments (Pigments: Causes of Color). Modern science has allowed us to create these once unobtainable colors for much cheaper, making them more accessible to all painters. Some of the colors include Tyrian purple, Ultramarine blue, Vermillion, and Prussian blue.

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Tyrian purple was a pigment mainly used for dye that was created using the shells of certain shellfish in the Mediterranean (Pigments: Causes of Color). The Romans valued garments of this color highly and it was worn often by emperors. Ultramarine blue is a pigment made from a mineral called lapis lazuli and is considered one of the most expensive pigments in history (Mangla). Not only was this color incredibly difficult to obtain, it was also used frequently in depictions of the Virgin Mary because it symbolized purity. In a painting by Sassoferrato from 1640-50 called The Virgin in Prayer, Mary can be seen wearing an ultramarine blue garment (see below).

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To represent paint as a status symbol, I chose to depict someone creating a painting of an extensive flower field and garden in front of a mansion-esque house. Even though I do not have Tyrian purple and ultramarine blue, I used the purple and blue I had to represent them.

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Reference:

·       Mangla, Ravi. “True Blue.” The Paris Review, 8 June 2015, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/06/08/true-blue/.

·       “Pigments: Causes of Color.” Pigments | Causes of Color, www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/7.html.

·       “Choose a Time Period.” Pigments through the Ages - Choose a Time Period, www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/history.html.