Vermilion (sometimes spelled vermillion) is a color family and toxic pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century and made from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange.
Etymology and common name "Vermilion" is attested as a color name in English in 1289. It comes from Old French vermeillon, derived from vermeil, from Latin vermiculus – the diminutive of vermis 'worm'. The name refers to the color of the red dye kermes made from the insect Kermes vermilio, which was widely used in Europe.
Chemistry and manufacture Vermilion is a dense, opaque pigment with a clear, brilliant hue. The pigment was originally made by grinding a powder of cinnabar (mercury sulfide). Like most mercury compounds, it is toxic. Vermilion is not a specific hue; mercuric sulfides make a range of warm hues, from bright orange-red to a duller reddish-purple that resembles fresh liver. Differences in hue are caused by the size of the pigment particles: larger crystals produce duller and less orange hues. Cinnabar pigment was a side product of the mining of mercury, and mining cinnabar was difficult, expensive, and dangerous, because of the toxicity of mercury. Greek philosopher Theophrastus of Eresus (371–286 BC) described the process in De Lapidibus, the first scientific book on minerals. Efforts began early to find a better way to make the pigment. The Chinese were probably the first to make a synthetic vermilion as early as the fourth century BC. The Greek alchemist Zosimus of Panopolis (third–fourth century AD) wrote of such a method. In the early 9th century, the process was accurately described by Persian alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (722–804) in his book of recipes of colors, and the process began to be widely used in Europe. The process described by Jabir ibn Hayyan was fairly simple:
Mix mercury with sulfur to form aethiopes mineralis, a black compound of mercury sulfide. Heat this in a flask (the compound vaporizes and recondenses in the top of the flask). Break the flask. Collect the vermilion and grind it. When first created, the material is almost black. As it is ground, the red color appears. The longer the compound is ground, the finer the color becomes. Italian Renaissance artist Cennino Cennini wrote: "If you were to grind it every day, even for 20 years, it would keep getting better and more perfect." In the 17th century, a new method of making the pigment was introduced, known as the Dutch method. Mercury and melted sulfur were mashed to make black mercury sulfide, then heated in a retort, producing vapors condensing as a bright, red mercury sulfide. To remove the sulfur, these crystals were treated with a strong alkali, washed, and finally ground under water to yield the commercial powder form of the pigment. The pigment is still made today using essentially the same process. Vermilion has one important defect; it is liable to darken, or develop a purplish-gray surface sheen. Cennino Cennini wrote, "Bear in mind ... that it is not in its character to be exposed to air, but it is more resistant on panel than on walls since, when it is used and laid on a wall, over a period of time, standing in the air, it turns black." Newer research indicates that chlorine ions and light may aid in decomposing vermilion into elemental mercury, which is black when in finely dispersed form. Vermilion was the primary red pigment used by European painters, from the Renaissance until the 20th century. Because of its cost and toxicity, though, it was almost entirely replaced by a new synthetic pigment, cadmium red, in the 20th century. As cadmium can also be toxic, some scientists propose replacing this with solid solutions of the perovskites CaTaO2N and LaTaON2. Genuine vermilion pigment today comes mostly from China; it is a synthetic mercuric sulfide, labeled on paint tubes as PR-106 (Red Pigment 106). The synthetic pigment is of higher quality than vermilion made from ground cinnabar, which has many impurities. The pigment is very toxic, and should be used with great care.
Gallery
History The colors are widely used in the art and decoration of Ancient Rome and the Byzantine Empire, then in the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages, in the paintings of the Renaissance, and in the art and lacquerware of China.
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. 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:
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 (Roman pounds thus 3289 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. In Rome, the precious pigment was used to paint frescoes, decorate statues, and 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. Cinnabar was used to paint the walls of some of the most luxurious villas in Pompeii, including the Villa of the Mysteries (Italian: Villa dei Misteri). Pliny reported its painters stole a large portion of the expensive pigment by frequently washing their brushes and saving the wash water. 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.
In India Vermilion is known in the Hindu religion as sindoor. It is commonly used by married Hindu women in India.
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