Timeline for Blue Pigments

Egyptian Blue is the oldest artificially produced pigment which was widely used in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and other ancient civilizations.

Azurite was already known to the ancient Greeks and Romans but rarely employed in painting. due to the ubiquity of Egyptian blue.

Han blue is a synthetic inorganic pigment of a composition similar to Egyptian blue produced since about 1050 BCE in Ancient China.

Indigo can be produced from a plant and also by means of chemical synthesis. It has been employed in large quantities since antiquity.

Natural ultramarine can be extracted from the mineral lapis lazuli which is a complex mixture of limestone, silicate minerals, and pyrite.

Smalt is finely ground glass containing cobalt which is rather unstable and is the cause of discoloration of many paintings.

Prussian Blue is the first modern artificial pigment that had been employed in painting and as a colorant in the textile industry.

Cobalt blue is a mixed oxide of cobalt and aluminum. It was a very popular pigment with the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.

Cerulean blue is cobalt-(II)-stannate with the formula of CoSnO3 or more generally CoO · n SnO2 not very frequently employed in painting.

After the synthesis of artificial ultramarine in 1828, the expensive natural ultramarine was substituted by the cheaper artificial product.

Phthalo blue is a bright blue pigment with outstanding properties which was used by many modern painters such as Piet Mondrian.

Manganese blue is a modern synthetic pigment that was in production from the 1930s until the 1990s. It was used mainly for painting skies.

YInMn blue is the most recently discovered blue pigment with excellent stability and lightfastness and not detrimental to human health.