Color: A Natural History of the Palette

Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors.
For example: Cleopatra used saffron—a source of the color yellow—for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue “ultramarine” paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red—still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today—has come from the blood of insects.

• The Brilliant History of Color in Art
• The Secret Lives of Color
• Jewels: A Secret History
• Interaction of Color: 50th Anniversary Edition
• On Color
• Secret Language of Color: Science, Nature, History, Culture, Beauty of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, & Violet
• Werner's Nomenclature of Colours: Adapted to Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Anatomy, and the Arts
• Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color
• A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire
• The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell' Arte"