Vermilion

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. 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. 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.}} By…

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  246
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  187
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  168
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  168
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  156
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  136
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  122
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  103