Cerulean Blue

Artificial inorganic pigment

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Composition and Properties of Cerulean Blue

Cerulean blue is cobalt-(II)-stannate with the formula of CoSnO3 or more generally CoO · n SnO2. The pigment is very stable and it does not change under illumination.

Video: 'Pigment Playtime: Cerulean Blue' by Penholder Art

cerulean-blue-crystals

Pigment

cerulaean-blue-painted-swatch

Painted swatch

Names 

Alternative names

ceruleum blue, caeruleum

Color Index

PB 35, CI 77368

Word origin

“Sky-colored, sky-blue,” 1660s, with -an + Latin caeruleus “blue, dark blue, blue-green,” perhaps from a dissimilation of caelulum, diminutive of caelum “heaven, sky,” which is of uncertain origin.

From Online Etymology Dictionary

Spain Flag

Coelinblau

German

Spain Flag

Bleu de céruleum

French

Spain Flag

Blu de ceruleo

Italian

Spain Flag

Azul cerúleo

Spanish

Preparation

The pigment can be prepared by heating a mixture of cobalt-(II)-chloride and potassium stannate.

History of Use 

 Cerulean blue was first synthesized in 1805 and was used mainly for painting skies due to its light blue colour and excellent stability.

Examples of use

Berthe Morisot, A Summer's Day, ca 1879

Berthe-Morisot-summer-s-day-600 

Identification

Infrared Spectrum

IR Spectrum in Ref (1)

(1) Carlos Eduardo Silva, Luciana P. Silva, Howell G. M. Edwards and Luiz Fernando C. de Oliveira, Diffuse reflection FTIR spectral database of dyes and pigments, Anal Bioanal Chem (2006) 386:2183–2191 DOI 10.1007/s00216-006-0865-8. Available as pdf.

Raman Spectrum

Raman_spectrum_cerulean_blue

Spectrum by Ian M. Bell, Robin J.H. Clark and Peter J. Gibbs, Raman Spectroscopic Library
University College of London.

References

(1) Bouchard, M. and Gambardella, A., Raman microscopy study of synthetic cobalt blue spinels used in the field of art. J. Raman Spectrosc., 41: 1477–1485, 2010. doi: 10.1002/jrs.2645

X-Ray Fluorescence Spektrum (XRF)

XRF Spectrum in the Free XRF Spectroscopy Database of Pigments Checker, CHSOS website.

cerulean-blue-microphotograph

Microphotograph

image © Volker Emrath

Further Reading

References

S. Muntwyler, J. Lipscher, HP. Schneider, Das Farbenbuch, 2nd. Ed., 2023, alataverlag Elsau, pp. 94-95.