art · FOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITY
This blue began inside a stone.
Follow a colour from mineral to painting.
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Rebuild the colour’s journey
Select lapis lazuli
Lazurite gives this rock its rich blue.
Prepare the pigment
Processing separates the useful blue particles.
Mix and paint
A binder turns pigment into usable paint.
What you just noticed
Natural ultramarine was made from lapis lazuli. Its preparation required more than simply crushing a rock, helping explain why painters treated the colour as precious.
Keep the distinction
See what happens
A patch of blue can carry a history of materials and labour.
Processing separates the useful blue particles.
AN IDEA TO TAKE WITH YOU
A patch of blue can carry a history of materials and labour.
Follow a connection
Sources and transparency
The Courtauld · Lapis Lazuli
Accessed: 2026-10-28
Getty Research Institute · Ultramarine blue pigment
Accessed: 2026-10-28
Prepared with AI assistance. Illustrations are explanatory, not evidence. You can report an issue in the interactive discovery.