Chrome Red

Synthetic inorganic pigment

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Composition and Properties

Chrome red is basic lead chromate with the formula of PbO · PbCrO₄. Its hiding power is outstanding but it is not quite stable and it can darken with age. The pigment chrome orange has the same chemical composition and the different color tones are achieved by changes in the particle size.

Pigment

Names

Alternative names

Derby red, Persian red, Vienna red, Victoria red, American vermilion

Color Index

PR 103, CI 77601

Word origin

After the element chromium, from Greek khrōma = color

Chromrot

German

Rouge de chrôme

French

Rossetto cromo

Italian

Rojo de cromo

Spanish

Preparation

The pigment can be prepared by mixing a solution of potassium chromate and lead (II)-nitrate in an alkaline solution or by treatment of chrome yellow with alkalis. The resulting precipitate is then filtered, dried and homogenized in a mortar.

Painted swatch

History of Use

The French chemist Louis Vauquelin discovered the element chrome in 1797. Shortly after the possibility of using its compounds as a pigment was recognized and the first methods of preparation were invented. The pigment has been in use since the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The records of usage in oil painting are rare.

Timeline of Red Pigments

Recommended Resources

References

(1) Kühn, H. and Curran, M., Chrome yellow and Other Chromate Pigments, in Artists’ Pigments. A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol. 1: Feller, R.L. (Ed.) Oxford University Press 1986, pp. 187-218. Available as pdf from the National Gallery of Art.

(2) S. Muntwyler, J. Lipscher, HP. Schneider, Das Farbenbuch, 2nd. Ed., 2023, alataverlag Elsau, pp. 102-103.