The Ancient Art of Color

Pliny the Elder wasn’t all that impressed. He acknowledged the significance and symbolism of the stuff: It is for this colour that the fasces and axes of Rome make way in the crowd; it is this that asserts the majesty of childhood; it is this that distinguishes the senator from the man of equestrian rank; by persons arrayed in this colour are prayers addressed to propitiate the gods; on every garment it sheds a lustre, and in the triumphal vestment it is to be seen mingled with gold. But he ultimately didn’t get the “frantic passion for purple” in ancient Rome, especially given its disgusting origins: Why it is that such a high value has been set upon the produce of this shell-fish, seeing that while in the dye the smell of it is offensive, and the color itself is harsh, of a greenish hue, and strongly resembling that of the sea when in a tempestuous state? Pliny was talking about Tyrian purple, the color that instantly signified to any Roman that its wearer was an important person ... Read full article.