Mysister spent some time in Afghanistanon a government forensics contract. Knowing she was there in turbulent times, I merelysuggested she keep an eye out for some genuine Lapis Lazuli. Although I’ve been known to put her in harmsway when we were children, luckily she returned home safe and gifted me a smallhand carved wood vessel filled with the semiprecious blue stone.
Minesin Afghanistanhave been worked for Lapis Lazuli for several thousand years and are among theoldest continually worked set of mines in the world. The mines in the Badakshanarea of Afghanistan, stilloperating today, supplied the sought-after stone to the Pharaohs. The earliestfinds of Lapis Lazuli connected with art were found in a Sumerian mosaic datingfrom the third millennium B.C. Other examples were found in the treasury ofRamses II (1290-1223 B.C.). Lapis Lazuli was mentioned by the Greeks and Romansin early antiquity and in the Bible.
Itsuse as a painting pigment is first reliably recorded by Marco Polo in 1271. Thesemiprecious stone was mined in Afghanistan,purified into the pigment Ultramarine Blue “from beyond the sea”, and imported viaPersia to the Mediterranean. About 1390, Cennino Cennini gives very detailed instructions about theprocess of extracting the speckled yellow-gold color Pyrite and white streaksof Calcite. This resulting pigment was used from 1271 until it almost ceased toexist around 1840s. Its price has always been extremely high, equaling orexceeding that of gold. It is soexpensive that painters usually used to invoice their clients for it separatelyor ask them to supply it. A privilege enjoyed solely by the wealthy, paintersused it for the most important character of their paintings. Leonardo used itfor the sky in his Mona Lisa.
InFrance,a prize was offered for the manufacture of synthetic ultramarine which wasawarded to B. Guimet in 1824. This rapidly reduced to a minimum the supplyof natural Ultramarine Blue. The artificial Ultramarine Blue is made by calcination ofsulfur, sodium carbonate, and kaolin by the so-called soda process. Themanufacturing process is quite complicated and is still carried out in potkilns, experiments with other types of kilns have proved unsuccessful.
Luckilyfor us, artificial Ultramarine Blue is one of the best glazing pigments availableand far less expensive than natural Ultramarine Blue. While I'm glad we do not have to use Cennini's formula for extracting the Pyrite and Calcitefrom the Lapis Lazuli, I do prefer to grind my own paints giving me a deeperappreciation for the pigment and oil for my paintings.
Reference: The Material and Techniques of Painting Kurt Wehlte
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