Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors.
For example: Cleopatra used saffron—a source of the color yellow—for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue “ultramarine” paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red—still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today—has come from the blood of insects.
Author: Victoria Finlay
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Customer Reviews
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Wonderful story!!!
I recently began to study textiles on my own and have always been fascinated by COLOR. This book is not only a great read with many wonderful stories, but one of the few books I've read where I was sad to see it end. I will never look at red or purple or ochre or blue, or any color for that matter, in the same way. There are other books on color which may give more detailed information, but none so human or intriguing. I could only imagine what adventures would await someone on a quest of colors' natural history as this author has encountered. I highly highly recommend this book for anyone interested in social history and human inventiveness.
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What you didn't know that you really want to know
I took for granted all the colors and dyes in our everyday lives -- yet these seemingly simple colors each have a history, a point of origin, a story: these tales are fascinating. (I will never be able look at blue jeans with the same complacence again.) And this is a great travelogue too: Finlay travels the world to search out the colors....
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Awesome and useful
I use some of the fun facts from this book in the oil painting class I teach. A very entertaining and educational travelogue. I really enjoyed how the author tied different narrative threads together.
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