Rare and Expensive Blue Pigment Found in the Dental Calculus of a Medieval-Era Woman (6 of 8) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Rare and Expensive Blue Pigment Found in the Dental Calculus of a Medieval-Era Woman (6 of 8)

Caption

Lapis lazuli pigment, also known as ultramarine, was among the most expensive artist materials of the European Middle Ages. Ground and refined from lapis lazuli stone, the pigment was used to depict the heavens and the robes of the Virgin Mary. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Jan. 9th, 2019, issue of Science Advances, published by AAAS. The paper, by A. Radini at University of York in York, UK, and colleagues was titled, "Medieval women's early involvement in manuscript production suggested by lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus."

Credit

Shelly O'Reilly

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