Editing Vermilion (section)

== History ==
The colors are widely used in the art and decoration of [[Ancient Rome]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]], then in the [[illuminated manuscript]]s of the [[Middle Ages]], in the paintings of the [[Renaissance]], and in the art and [[lacquerware of China]].<ref name=rjg>Gettens, R. J., Feller, R. L. & Chase, W. T., ''Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of their History and Characteristics'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 159.</ref><ref name=elixer>{{cite book |last=Cox |first=Robert E.|title=The elixir of immortality: A modern-day alchemist's discovery of the philosopher's stone|year=2009 |publisher=Inner Traditions|location=Rochester|isbn=978-1-59477-303-7|pages=22–23}}</ref>

=== Antiquity ===
The first documented use of vermilion pigment, made with ground cinnabar, dates to 8000–7000 BC, and was found at the [[Neolithic]] village of [[Çatalhöyük]], 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 the [[Yangshao culture]] (5000–4000 BC), where it was used to paint ceramics, to cover the walls and floors of rooms, and for ritual ceremonies.<ref name=ThoughtCo>{{Cite web |author=Hirst, K. Kris |date=Aug 25, 2020 |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/cinnabar-the-ancient-pigment-of-mercury-170556 |title=Cinnabar, the Ancient Pigment of Mercury |work=ThoughtCo |access-date=2018-02-04}}</ref>

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:

<blockquote>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 ([[Ancient Roman units of measurement#Weight|Roman pounds]] thus 3289&nbsp;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.<ref>Daniel V. Thompson, ''The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting'', p. 103.</ref></blockquote>

In Rome, the precious pigment was used to paint frescoes, decorate statues, and [[Cosmetics in Ancient Rome#Rouge|even as a cosmetic]]. In [[Roman triumphs]], the victors had their faces covered with vermilion powder, and the face of Jupiter on the [[Capitoline Hill]] was also colored vermilion.<ref name="StClair" /> Cinnabar was used to paint the walls of some of the most luxurious villas in [[Pompeii]], including the Villa of the Mysteries (Italian: ''[[Villa of the Mysteries|Villa dei Misteri]]).''<ref name="StClair" /> [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] reported its painters stole a large portion of the expensive pigment by frequently washing their brushes and saving the wash water.<ref name="Anne Varichon p. 112">Anne Varichon, ''Couleurs : Pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples'', p. 112</ref>

In the [[Byzantine 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.<ref name="Anne Varichon p. 112" />

=== In India ===
It is known as [[sindoor]]. Sindoor is commonly used by '''married''' women in Hindu religion in India.<ref name="rjg" />

=== In the Americas ===
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 the [[Maya civilization|Maya]], Sican, Moche, and [[Inca]] empires. The major source was the Huancavelica mine in the [[Andes]] mountains in central Peru.

The most dramatic example of vermilion use in the Americas was the so-called [[Tomb of the Red Queen]], located in Temple XIII, in the ruins of the Mayan city of [[Palenque]] in Chiapas, Mexico. The temple is dated to between 600 and 700 AD. It was discovered in 1994 by Mexican archeologist [[Fanny López Jiménez]]. The body and all objects in the sarcophagus were covered with bright red vermilion powder made from cinnabar.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20150405011225/http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeologic7/ss/Palenque-Walking-Tour_4.htm  Archeology.about.com article on Temple XIII and the structures of Palenque (Retrieved April, 2015)</ref><ref>http://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/quien-es-la-reina-roja [Spanish] ¿Quién es la Reina Roja? by Fanny López Jiménez on arqueologiamexicana.mx</ref><ref name="ThoughtCo" />

=== In the Middle Ages and Renaissance ===
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 expensive [[minium (pigment)|minium]], made with [[red 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:

{{quote|This pigment is made by [[alchemy]], prepared in a [[retort]], 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.<ref>Lara Broecke, ''Cennino Cennini's ''Il Libro dell' Arte'': a new English Translation and Commentary with Italian Transcription'', Archetype 2015, pp. 63–4.</ref>}}

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.

<gallery widths=140>
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations003.jpg|The first documented use of cinnabar or vermilion pigment was found at the neolithic village of [[Çatalhöyük]] in modern-day Turkey. This mural, from 7000 to 8000 BC, shows [[aurochs]], a deer, and humans. (Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara)
Banpo bowl.jpg|The first documented use of cinnabar, or vermilion, for decorating pottery in China dates to the [[Yangshao culture]] (5000–4000 BC). This bowl is from Banpo Village, [[Shaanxi]], China.
Villa Mystery fresco.jpg|The [[Villa of the Mysteries]] in [[Pompeii]] was a showcase for the expensive vermilion pigment made from ground cinnabar.
Palenque-ausgrab.jpg|The walls of the tombs of [[Maya civilization|Maya]] rulers were sometimes painted with cinnabar, and in the [[Tomb of the Red Queen]] in [[Palenque]] (600–700 AD), the remains of a noblewoman were covered with bright vermilion cinnabar powder.
</gallery>

=== Chinese red ===
{{See also|Color in Chinese culture#Red}}

In China, the color vermilion was also playing an important role in national culture. The color was mostly used in creating Chinese [[lacquerware]], which was exported around the world, giving rise to the term "Chinese red".

The lacquer came from the [[Toxicodendron vernicifluum|Chinese lacquer tree]], or ''[[Toxicodendron vernicifluum]]'', a relative of [[poison ivy]] and [[poison sumac]] (not to be confused with [[sumac]], 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, called [[urushiol]], was caustic and toxic (it contained the same chemical compound as [[poison 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 the [[Han dynasty]], Chinese artisans colored it with powdered cinnabar or with [[Ochre|red ochre]] ([[ferric oxide]]), giving it an orange-red color.<ref>Garner, H., "Technical Studies of Oriental Lacquer"; ''Studies in Conservation'' (8), (1963) pp. 84–97.</ref><ref>Ken Johnson, "Cinnabar: Zen once came in a shade of red", ''New York Times'', August 20, 2009.</ref> 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 the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907), when the synthetic vermilion was introduced, that color became darker and richer. The poet [[Bai Juyi]] (772–846) wrote in a [[Song poetry|song poem]] praising [[Jiangnan]], "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.<ref>Yan Chunling, ''Chinese Red'', Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, (2008).</ref>

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]], [[Mercury(II) iodide|iodine scarlet]]—and [[minium (pigment)|minium]] (red lead), an inexpensive and bright, but [[fugitive pigment|fugitive]] lead-oxide pigment.{{sfn|Eastaugh|2004|p=387}}

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 personal [[Seal (East Asia)|seals]]. It was also used for unique red calligraphic ink reserved for emperors. Chinese Taoists associated vermilion with eternity.
<gallery widths=140>
Lacquerware bowl, Western Han Dynasty.JPG|A lacquerware bowl from the Western Han dynasty, second century BC (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Red lacquer tray, Song Dynasty.jpg|A lacquerware tray from the [[Song dynasty]], 960-1279 (Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington, DC)
Red lacquerware dish, Ming Dynasty.jpg|A lacquerware dish from the [[Ming dynasty]], late 15th to mid-16th century (Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington, DC)
Shaolinsi.JPG|The main gate of the [[Shaolin Monastery]] in Dengfeng, Henan is painted vermilion or Chinese red.
Forbidden City August 2012 28.JPG|Vermilion columns in the throne room in the [[Palace of Heavenly Purity]] in the [[Forbidden City]] of Beijing
</gallery>