Description
- Prussian Blue is a semi-transparent, deep cyan-blue with a greenish undertone and a very high tinting strength unequaled by most pigments.
- It is similar to Phthalo Blue unless mixed with white, when it gives up intensity and becomes smoky.
- It can behave erratically and less reliably in oil and watercolor form depending on its manufacture.
- For permanent painting Phthalo Blue is considered a more reliable choice
- The first of the modern pigments, Prussian Blue is the first artificial pigment with a known history.
- It was discovered by accident in 1704 by the Berlin color maker Heinrich Diesbach, who was trying to create a pigment with a red hue by mixing iron sulfate and potash.
- The potash Diesbach purchased from a local laboratory had been contaminated by animal oil and blood during previous experimentation.
- The resulting mixture yielded a very pale red that changed to purple and then deep blue when he tried to concentrate it.
- Since previous blue pigments came from lapis lazuli, an expensive stone, Diesbach & rsquo;s discovery was extremely important for artists of the time.