Timeline for Yellow Pigments

The main colour giving component of natural yellow ochre (ocher) is limonite which itself is a mixture of several minerals.

Orpiment is yellow arsenic sulfide with the formula As2S3. It occurs naturally as a mineral and can also be prepared artificially.

Naples yellow had been used in glassmaking and painting in ancient Egypt but the pigment had been forgotten around the 4th century AD.

Gamboge, also called gummi gutti, is a rare pigment from the natural resin produced by trees in south east Asia.

Lead-tin yellow is known in two different forms. The first is called Lead-tin-yellow type I and is a mixed oxide of the elements tin and lead

Naples Yellow had been rediscovered in the 17th century and used fairly frequently in European oil painting.

Raw sienna is very similar to ochres and has been in use in European oil painting since the middle of the 18th century.

Chrome yellow is lead chromate PbCrO4 which was often employed in the 19th century but it is unfortunately not stable and lightfast.

Bismuth vanadate yellow is a salt with a formula of BiVO4. It can also be considered a mixed oxide of the elements bismuth and vanadium.

Cadmium yellow is cadmium sulfide CdS. There are many different colour variations achieved by the admixture of zinc sulfide.

Zinc yellow is not very stable and had caused discoloration of several paintings by van Gogh, Seurat and others.

Lemon yellow is barium chromate with a formula of BaCrO4. The pigment is rather lightfast but chemically not entirely stable.

Cobalt yellow is potassium cobaltinitrite. It has been reported to be fairly stable in watercolor use and not suitable for oil painting

Arylide yellow has the Colour Index PY 3 and is one of the many variants of organic pigments containing the group of two nitrogen atoms.