Exquisite Arts Magazine Vol 1 - July/ August 2016 | Page 38

Ultramarine and the Zeitgeist of the Perfect Blue
Benson Mwang | United States
“The blue color is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a
source of delight; and whether seen perpetually over your head, or
crystallized once in a thousand years into a single and
incomparable stone, your acknowledgment of its beauty is equally
natural, simple, and instantaneous.”
John Ruskin- (1819 - 1900)

One of the most popular and versatile gemstones is Lapis lazuli, so unique it has extraordinarily borne
the turbulent tides of art and fashion. It has captured the attention of men and fascinated them for
millennia; its shimmering golden shades of light and fabulous blue blends flawlessly with its pyrite
compositions. Lapis lazuli today is cut like any other ornamental stone with cabochons a bit common just
like beads and polished flat slabs. You can easily find a figurine and a carving of the stone.
Today, Lapis isn't the most expensive of gemstones although finding a really fine material is still as hard
as it was 5,000 years ago. Until about the mid 18th century, a remote place in Northeast Afghanistan, the
Sar-e-Sang was the only source of the gemstone. From the iconic era of the Egyptians, the revealing
period of the Babylonians, the vicious times of the Romans to the 18th century Europe and the renaissance
period the remote Afghanistan valley remained the coveted place where lapis lazuli was mined.

The charming ultramarine
But even with the discoveries of new sources of the gemstone and the fact that its figurines and crafts are
easier to come by there's a part of the lapis that still captivates to date; ultramarine, the blue pigment only
natural lapis lazuli could produce. In the 13th century Book of Arts by Cennino Cennini, he considers the
pigment as “a noble color, beautiful, the most perfect of all colors.”
The use of the ultramarine in painting still stands as arguably the most significant part in the history of
classic paintings and a reason why the paintings from the old masters are still priceless. Lapis lazuli's
touch of blue has manifested almost in every major human civilization, from pendants in 2900 BC
Mesopotamia, perfect eyebrows of Tutankhamen, the young Pharaoh between 1341 BC and 1323 BC,
Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne of 1520-23, table top View of the Port of Livorno by Cristofano Gaffuri
between 1601 and 1604, carved mountain scenes in the Qing Dynasty around 1644-1912, Girl with a
Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer in 1665, The Virgin in Prayer by Sassoferrato 1640-1650 to the
Trafalgar Cockerel of 2013 on Trafalgar Square's 4th Plinth by Katharina Fritsch.

Blue beyond the hue
Blue stands as the ultimate muse due to its ability to manifest as a mirage. It occurs everywhere in all the
ancient elements from the flames, water to ice, even letting flowers to seep with purity. Only in
ultramarine are we able to touch blue in its natural form. Ultramarine doesn’t unduly impress itself on
the observer, peddle utter despair or preach sheer bliss.
From the ancient times the stroke of blue oozing from lapis lazuli has been regarded as representing the
sheer melting of hostilities and the deepening of truth and friendship. The blue stone with deposits of
mica, augite, pyrite and calcite refracts light and spreads it subtly in various ways as if to encourage
harmonious relationships and authenticating the wearer.

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