Viridian

Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Pp-pc Template:Infobox color

File:Chromium(III)-oxide-sample.jpg

Chromium(III) oxide sample

File:Viridian(Pigment Green 18) (Left) And Phthalocyanine Green(Pigment Green 7) (Right) Gouache.jpg

Viridian(Pigment Green 18) (Left) And Phthalocyanine Green(Pigment Green 7) (Right) Gouache

Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed of a majority of green, followed by blue. The first recorded use of viridian as a color name in English was in the 1860s.<ref>Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 206; Color Sample of Viridian: Page 93 Plate 79 Color Sample K11</ref> Viridian takes its name from the Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, meaning "green".<ref>Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 18 See: "Table--Polyglot Table of Principle Color Names" Pages 18-19</ref> The pigment was first prepared in mid-19th-century Paris and remains available from several US manufacturers as prepared artists' colors in all media.<ref name="Newman-1997">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

History

Viridian pigment was first prepared in 1838 in Paris by Parisian color chemist and painter Pannetier alongside his assistant Binet as a hydrated form of chromium oxide.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The preparation process was demanding, expensive, and shrouded in secrecy.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp The French chemist C. E. Guignet developed and patented a cheaper manufacturing method in 1859 that enabled larger distribution and use of the pigment.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp This method involved calcining a combination of boric acid and potassium bichromate, then washing the material.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp

Winsor and Newton's catalogue listed the pigment as early as 1849. It was used as early as 1840 in a work by J. M. W. Turner.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp Viridian was in prominent use by the mid-nineteenth century, but was less popular than three to four times more affordable alternatives including emerald and chrome greens.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp

Visual characteristics

Viridian is a bright shade of spring green, which places the color between green and teal on the color wheel, or, in paint, a tertiary blue–green color. Viridian is dark in value, has medium saturation, and is transparent.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp

Variations of viridian

Paolo Veronese green

Paolo Veronese green is the color that is called verde veronés in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Paolo Veronese green was a color formulated and used by the noted 16th-century Venetian artist Paolo Veronese.

Paolo Veronese green began to be used as a color name in English sometime in the 1800s (exact year uncertain).<ref>Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 201 (It is listed under Paul Veronese green)</ref>

Another name for this color is transparent oxide of chromium.<ref>Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 142</ref>

Viridian green

At right is displayed the color viridian green.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-5126 TPX—Viridian Green.<ref>Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the words "Viridian Green" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear:</ref>

Generic viridian

Generic viridian is the color that is called Viridian inspecifico in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Spanish viridian

Spanish viridian is the color that is called Viridian specifico in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Permanence

Viridian is considered durable and permanent as an artist's pigment.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp Viridian is unaffected by temperatures up to 260 °C (500 °F), but it is unsuitable for use in ceramic glazes.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp Viridian is compatible with all pigments in all media, and has high oil absorption.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp Pure pigment formulations of viridian are hard and may separate in tubes, but adding barium sulfate in small quantities enables easy grinding and dispersion.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp

Notable occurrences

Viridian as a quaternary color on the RYB color wheel:

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Template:In popular culture Although viridian is not a frequent color name in English, it is used in a number of cultural references, probably because it is derived from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the Latin word for green, so using the word viridian sounds more elegant than simply referring to the Old English word green.Template:Citation needed

Fine art painting

• Fritz Bamberger, Afterglow in the Sierra Nevada, 1863.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp
• Claude Monet, Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877, oil on canvas<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp includes traces of viridian in the grassy area.
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Flowers, 1919.<ref name="Newman-1997" />Template:Rp
  File:Fritz Bamberger - Ansicht der Sierra Nevada - 11627 - Bavarian State Painting Collections.jpg

  Fritz Bamberger - Ansicht der Sierra Nevada, 1863. Bavarian State Painting Collections.
  File:Claude Monet - Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare - Google Art Project.jpg

  Claude Monet - Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877, oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.
  File:Renoir - Flowers, 1915-1919, DMA 1957.64.jpg

  Renoir - Flowers, 1919.

Automobiles

• "Viridian Joule" was the winning color name in Chevrolet's Volt Paint-Color Naming Contest.<ref>"Viridian Joule" was the winning color name in Paint-Color Naming Contest [1]</ref>

Broadcasting

• Viridian was the signature color of BBC Two's identity from 1991–2001.

Environmental design

• The viridian design movement is a popular design movement based on a bright green environmentalism philosophy.<ref name="Sterling 2000">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Hughes 2002">Template:Cite journal</ref>

See also

• List of colors
• List of inorganic pigments
• Green pigments

Further reading

• Newman, R., Chromium Oxide Greens, in Artists’ Pigments, A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol 3: E.W. Fitzhugh (Ed.) Oxford University Press 1997, p. 273 – 286

External links

• Viridian, Pigments through the Ages, Webexhibits. Information about the color viridian, its history, making of, and its chemistry
• Viridian, Colourlex
• Viridian Red Noida, Viridian Red Noida
• Viridian color in design