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Histoire d'une couleur #4
Rojo. Historia de un color
The color red has represented many things, from the life force and the divine to love, lust, and anger. Up through the Middle Ages, red held a place of privilege in the Western world. For many cultures, red was not just one color of many but rather the only color worthy enough to be used for social purposes. In some languages, the word for red was the same as the word for color. The first color developed for painting and dying, red became associated in antiquity with war, wealth, and power. In the medieval period, red held both religious significance, as the color of the blood of Christ and the fires of Hell, and secular meaning, as a symbol of love, glory, and beauty. Yet during the Protestant Reformation, red began to decline in status. Viewed as indecent and immoral and linked to luxury and the excesses of the Catholic Church, red fell out of favor. After the French Revolution, red gained new respect as the color of progressive movements and radical left-wing politics.
In this beautifully illustrated book, Michel Pastoureau, the acclaimed author of Blue, Black, and Green, now masterfully navigates centuries of symbolism and complex meanings to present the fascinating and sometimes controversial history of the color red. Pastoureau illuminates red's evolution through a diverse selection of captivating images, including the cave paintings of Lascaux, the works of Renaissance masters, and the modern paintings and stained glass of Mark Rothko and Josef Albers.
In this beautifully illustrated book, Michel Pastoureau, the acclaimed author of Blue, Black, and Green, now masterfully navigates centuries of symbolism and complex meanings to present the fascinating and sometimes controversial history of the color red. Pastoureau illuminates red's evolution through a diverse selection of captivating images, including the cave paintings of Lascaux, the works of Renaissance masters, and the modern paintings and stained glass of Mark Rothko and Josef Albers.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published February 14, 2017
70 people are currently reading
2096 people want to read
About the author
Michel Pastoureau
118 books249 followersPastoureau was born in Paris on 17 June 1947. He studied at the École Nationale des Chartes, a college for prospective archivists and librarians. After writing his 1972 thesis about heraldic bestiaries in the Middle Ages, he worked in the coins, medals and antiquities department of the French National Library until 1982.
Since 1983 he has held the Chair of History of Western Symbolism (Chaire d'histoire de la symbolique occidentale) and is a director of studies at the Sorbonne's École pratique des hautes études. He is an academician of the Académie internationale d'héraldique (International Academy of Heraldry) and vice-president of the Société française d'héraldique (French Heraldry Society). When he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lausanne in 1996, he was described as an eminent scholar who has made a radical contribution to several disciplines.
Professor Pastoureau has published widely, including work on the history of colours, animals, symbols, and the Knights of the Round Table. He has also written on emblems and heraldry, as well as sigillography and numismatics.
Since 1983 he has held the Chair of History of Western Symbolism (Chaire d'histoire de la symbolique occidentale) and is a director of studies at the Sorbonne's École pratique des hautes études. He is an academician of the Académie internationale d'héraldique (International Academy of Heraldry) and vice-president of the Société française d'héraldique (French Heraldry Society). When he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lausanne in 1996, he was described as an eminent scholar who has made a radical contribution to several disciplines.
Professor Pastoureau has published widely, including work on the history of colours, animals, symbols, and the Knights of the Round Table. He has also written on emblems and heraldry, as well as sigillography and numismatics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
July 23, 2023
3.5 stars
Michel Pastoureau has written about different colors, being an expert on and showing enthusiasm for art history and in particular colors, symbology, and heraldry. We see a great effort with this book and it covers a lot of ground, but I was still left with a lot of questions. I can understand that some of the answers may be tough to come by and that there is bound to be overlapping, but I was still looking for more.
Some interesting information that is covered in this book include:
1.) Among many aspects of religious history, in the category of Catholic history, there was a change that contradicted Christ's wishes as per the Book of Matthew so that only priests and other members of clergy traditionally receive the wine (aka. The Blood of Christ) during communion (page 66).
2.) In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation went against color and Protestants, along with Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anglicans, opted for more "subtle" colors such as black, gray, white, and brown (page 108).
3.) Red was at one point the most popular color before being overthrown by blue, which remains the most popular color. The Virgin Mary is the first person to be frequently depicted in blue attire, beginning in 1000, and developing a lighter shade. Kings mimicked this trend and it led to a "Blue Revolution" (pages 87-88).
4.) Red is used in 82% of European flags (page 176).
These facts and so many more are covered within this text. This book is great to refer to and dip in and out of, but it is a bit limited in its range and does not cover much ground as far as current information is concerned. It is still worth looking into, but you should choose the pace that works best for you.
Michel Pastoureau has written about different colors, being an expert on and showing enthusiasm for art history and in particular colors, symbology, and heraldry. We see a great effort with this book and it covers a lot of ground, but I was still left with a lot of questions. I can understand that some of the answers may be tough to come by and that there is bound to be overlapping, but I was still looking for more.
Some interesting information that is covered in this book include:
1.) Among many aspects of religious history, in the category of Catholic history, there was a change that contradicted Christ's wishes as per the Book of Matthew so that only priests and other members of clergy traditionally receive the wine (aka. The Blood of Christ) during communion (page 66).
2.) In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation went against color and Protestants, along with Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anglicans, opted for more "subtle" colors such as black, gray, white, and brown (page 108).
3.) Red was at one point the most popular color before being overthrown by blue, which remains the most popular color. The Virgin Mary is the first person to be frequently depicted in blue attire, beginning in 1000, and developing a lighter shade. Kings mimicked this trend and it led to a "Blue Revolution" (pages 87-88).
4.) Red is used in 82% of European flags (page 176).
These facts and so many more are covered within this text. This book is great to refer to and dip in and out of, but it is a bit limited in its range and does not cover much ground as far as current information is concerned. It is still worth looking into, but you should choose the pace that works best for you.
August 1, 2022
This is a beautiful book filled with copious illustrations. I highly recommend it. My only quibble: it's very Western Europe focused. It pretty much ignores the Byzantine empire and anything to the east of Byzantium.
March 7, 2022
How can one write a book about the colour Red but not mention the bloody Pre-Raphaelites even once?
November 6, 2021
Читала я эту книгу по учёбе, но might as well.
Неплохой обзор истории цвета. В паре мест автор себе противоречит, но это и понятно в таком непростом вопросе, просто хотелось, чтобы это было как-то отмечено или выделено. Хороший список литературы в сносках и в библиографии.
Пожалуй, я бы порекомендовала эту книгу только тем, кто лишь открывает для себя символизм, причём не только цвета, но и в целом как понятие. Мне показалось, что автор сделал эту книгу ну уж очень популярной и в то же время рассказал обо всём чересчур поверхностно. Полезно будет для тех, кто хочет определиться, к какой области его тянет больше, так как всё равно более подробную информацию в любой сфере, будь то филология, искусство или мода, придётся искать уже самостоятельно. В общем, книга-обзор, чтобы ограничить круг интересов.
Неплохой обзор истории цвета. В паре мест автор себе противоречит, но это и понятно в таком непростом вопросе, просто хотелось, чтобы это было как-то отмечено или выделено. Хороший список литературы в сносках и в библиографии.
Пожалуй, я бы порекомендовала эту книгу только тем, кто лишь открывает для себя символизм, причём не только цвета, но и в целом как понятие. Мне показалось, что автор сделал эту книгу ну уж очень популярной и в то же время рассказал обо всём чересчур поверхностно. Полезно будет для тех, кто хочет определиться, к какой области его тянет больше, так как всё равно более подробную информацию в любой сфере, будь то филология, искусство или мода, придётся искать уже самостоятельно. В общем, книга-обзор, чтобы ограничить круг интересов.
May 5, 2017
La presenza del rosso nella cultura europea, tra lingua, arte, scienza, pigmenti, moda, religione, politica, vita quotidiana ecc.
La storia di un re spodestato, per certi versi: costretto a deporre la corona e a darsi alla rivoluzione.
Storia avvincente — anche solo per il capitolo Ai limiti del rosso: il rosa, dedicato alla faticosa lotta ingaggiata da questo colore tenue per conquistarsi un nome e una posizione.
La storia di un re spodestato, per certi versi: costretto a deporre la corona e a darsi alla rivoluzione.
Storia avvincente — anche solo per il capitolo Ai limiti del rosso: il rosa, dedicato alla faticosa lotta ingaggiata da questo colore tenue per conquistarsi un nome e una posizione.
August 7, 2021
Fourth in the wonderful series about the history of color in the (mostly) Western World. This time, Pastoureau focused on red.
Starting with prehistoric paintings on cave walls with red, black and white minerals, red has been a color that has had a variety of meaning that has changed over the centuries but painters have always loved its vibrance. Romans adored it and for many, it was the color of wealth and power due to the cost of murex and kermes dyes. In fact, the word for red and the word for color were interchangeable, just like red and purple were at the time. Early Christian beliefs had red being a sign of evil with demon/devil heads being red along with a bit of red being worn to indicate certain jobs - like executioners and prostitutes. And even as red was connected with the devil, it was also connected with blood and divine fire. Talk about confusing.
Redheaded individuals were considered evil, devious, treacherous, cunning, violent and disloyal. Christian artists had Judas, Cain and others shown with red hair so that they could be easily identified by observers. Especially in church stain-glass windows, paintings and biblical illuminations.
With the discovery of the Americas and Aztec cochineal dyes, red was back on it's way to being popular even as it was lagging behind blues. It was in the late 17th century France that red - especially the rich, vibrant shades - became a fashion statement countering the blacks, grays and browns of the Protestant movement of the earlier years. Red-soled Christian Louboutin shoes are not really a 'new' fashion statement as the French aristocracy wore shoes lined with red so that when the upper was folded over, it displayed a brilliant edging which matched the red heels men and women wore.
What about pink? Well, pink was not recognized as an individual color until the late 1300's. BUT, as the space on the chromatic scale between white and red was occupied by yellow, it was considered a specific shade of yellow. Don't ask - it's all concerning red being the center of the scale and no knowledge of how color is organized in the light spectrum. From the 15th - 17th century, it was considered not a true color and actually referred to as 'carnation. Modern 'pink' was born in mid-18th century France being called 'rose'.
It was at the time of the French Revolution that the red flag gained it's political connections that continues into today. In fact, a majority of the flags of United Nation members have red for a variety of reasons.
As you can likely guess, this book is also lavishly illustrated with full-page examples as the author moves through time with focuses on the color through the lens of historic, religious, cultural and artistic perspectives. This series is not just for the artist but for any one interested in the meanings, history and influences that one color has had on human civilization.
2021-159
Starting with prehistoric paintings on cave walls with red, black and white minerals, red has been a color that has had a variety of meaning that has changed over the centuries but painters have always loved its vibrance. Romans adored it and for many, it was the color of wealth and power due to the cost of murex and kermes dyes. In fact, the word for red and the word for color were interchangeable, just like red and purple were at the time. Early Christian beliefs had red being a sign of evil with demon/devil heads being red along with a bit of red being worn to indicate certain jobs - like executioners and prostitutes. And even as red was connected with the devil, it was also connected with blood and divine fire. Talk about confusing.
Redheaded individuals were considered evil, devious, treacherous, cunning, violent and disloyal. Christian artists had Judas, Cain and others shown with red hair so that they could be easily identified by observers. Especially in church stain-glass windows, paintings and biblical illuminations.
With the discovery of the Americas and Aztec cochineal dyes, red was back on it's way to being popular even as it was lagging behind blues. It was in the late 17th century France that red - especially the rich, vibrant shades - became a fashion statement countering the blacks, grays and browns of the Protestant movement of the earlier years. Red-soled Christian Louboutin shoes are not really a 'new' fashion statement as the French aristocracy wore shoes lined with red so that when the upper was folded over, it displayed a brilliant edging which matched the red heels men and women wore.
What about pink? Well, pink was not recognized as an individual color until the late 1300's. BUT, as the space on the chromatic scale between white and red was occupied by yellow, it was considered a specific shade of yellow. Don't ask - it's all concerning red being the center of the scale and no knowledge of how color is organized in the light spectrum. From the 15th - 17th century, it was considered not a true color and actually referred to as 'carnation. Modern 'pink' was born in mid-18th century France being called 'rose'.
It was at the time of the French Revolution that the red flag gained it's political connections that continues into today. In fact, a majority of the flags of United Nation members have red for a variety of reasons.
As you can likely guess, this book is also lavishly illustrated with full-page examples as the author moves through time with focuses on the color through the lens of historic, religious, cultural and artistic perspectives. This series is not just for the artist but for any one interested in the meanings, history and influences that one color has had on human civilization.
2021-159
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April 13, 2022„Crvena – Istorija jedne boje“ je četvrtak knjiga u serijalu (pre toga su objavljene knjige o plavoj, crnoj i zelenoj) koji je napisao istoričar i profesor Mišel Pasturo. U ovoj knjizi on prati istoriju (i kroz istoriju) crvene boje. Od nastanka na pećinskim crtežima starim preko trideset hiljada godina (crvena je prva boja koju smo otkrili), preko starog Egipta, antičke Grčke i Rima, zatim srednjeg veka, pa renesanse i sve do modernog doba i reklama za kokakolu…
Knjiga je u finoj opremi, u tvrdom povezu, na najkvalitetnijem papiru, sa pratećim ilustracijama i fotografijama u boji… Dok sam čitao knjigu imao sam utisak da sam gledao neku emisiju na kanalu Viasat History.
Veoma zanimljiva šetnja kroz istoriju čovečanstva, mnogo zanimljivih priča koje do sada nisam znao…
Više o ovoj knjizi i crvenoj boji možete pročitati u malo dužem tekstu na ovom linku: http://www.bookvar.rs/putovanje-prve-...
Knjiga je u finoj opremi, u tvrdom povezu, na najkvalitetnijem papiru, sa pratećim ilustracijama i fotografijama u boji… Dok sam čitao knjigu imao sam utisak da sam gledao neku emisiju na kanalu Viasat History.
Veoma zanimljiva šetnja kroz istoriju čovečanstva, mnogo zanimljivih priča koje do sada nisam znao…
Više o ovoj knjizi i crvenoj boji možete pročitati u malo dužem tekstu na ovom linku: http://www.bookvar.rs/putovanje-prve-...
February 5, 2020
Après le bleu, le noir et le vert, Michel Pastoureau s'intéresse désormais au rouge, et à la façon dont cette couleur est passé d'un statut presque magique à une image de dangerosité.
Comme toujours, il s'attache avec passion et pédagogie à expliquer le symbolisme d'une couleur à travers les âges. Érudit mais sans pédantisme, ce petit ouvrage est extrêmement instructif et s'adresse autant à un public historien qu'à un public moins familier de la question et désireux d'en apprendre davantage sur l'histoire des représentations.
Comme toujours, il s'attache avec passion et pédagogie à expliquer le symbolisme d'une couleur à travers les âges. Érudit mais sans pédantisme, ce petit ouvrage est extrêmement instructif et s'adresse autant à un public historien qu'à un public moins familier de la question et désireux d'en apprendre davantage sur l'histoire des représentations.
June 8, 2020
A well-documented and concise history of the use and customs around the color red in the western world, from prehistory to modern times. The author has also written such books on the colors blue, green and black and intends on writing one on the color yellow.
Even though the cultural scope is mostly centered on the European world and culture, the book provides interesting insights into how the pigments were made in older times, and how the view of the color evolved culturally, with the political, cultural, social and religious influences it had.
A very interesting book for one's personal culture.
Even though the cultural scope is mostly centered on the European world and culture, the book provides interesting insights into how the pigments were made in older times, and how the view of the color evolved culturally, with the political, cultural, social and religious influences it had.
A very interesting book for one's personal culture.
November 21, 2018
A welcome gift and gorgeous looking book which is ironically rather difficult to read - large print and very shiny paper can be an optically confusing combination.
It hovers between the academic and the coffee table genres, containing [often conflicting] facts, history and much about the church, frequently with a french bias.
It hovers between the academic and the coffee table genres, containing [often conflicting] facts, history and much about the church, frequently with a french bias.
March 31, 2025
Premier livre que j’ai lu dans cette série, je l’ai pris au hasard dans une librairie grâce à la couverture rouge unie qui ne peut qu’attirer le regard. Les livres qui ont le plus grand impact sur ma vision de la vie, sur l’importance des couleurs, de la langue et du vocabulaire sur la symbolique des choses. J’y pense encore tous les jours.
February 2, 2023
Like its last paragraph, I find this book paradoxically fascinating and rich in explaining the symbolism of Red, despite liking the color Blue more (I also read Blue: The History of a Color).
The last paragraph, by the way, read as follows: "That is the paradox of red today. No longer our favorite, it has increasingly withdrawn from our everyday environment, and in many areas it has been outstripped by blue or else by green, but it remains the strongest color symbolically."
"It is a strange fate for a color with so long a past and so laden with meaning, legends, and dreams."
Strange indeed, but perhaps such fate is what makes Red romantic as well?
The last paragraph, by the way, read as follows: "That is the paradox of red today. No longer our favorite, it has increasingly withdrawn from our everyday environment, and in many areas it has been outstripped by blue or else by green, but it remains the strongest color symbolically."
"It is a strange fate for a color with so long a past and so laden with meaning, legends, and dreams."
Strange indeed, but perhaps such fate is what makes Red romantic as well?
April 12, 2017
My earliest memories are memories of color. I remember staring deeply into illustrations in children's books or Christmas tree bulbs or the stark palette of the Arizona desert, hypnotized by something those colors conveyed that no words could communicate. This fascination has never left; it's one of the occult joys of being alive.
So, naturally, I have a shelf of books on color, including slim studies by Wittgenstein, Jarman, and the extravagant essays on primary and secondary colors by Alexander Theroux. But there's nothing as fine as the beautiful series of books published in English by Princeton by the French medievalist Michel Pastoureau.
Red, like its predecessors Blue, Black and Green, documents the history of a specific color. Significantly,
I won't attempt a summary, except to say that I was most surprised to learn that not only the meaning but the perception of red (and perhaps all color) shift around Newton's discovery of the spectrum in 1666. One example – prior to that point, pink was understood as a mixture of white and yellow. And (to return to my original enthusiasm) I was delighted to come upon the invention of color swatches by the Dutch watercolorist "A. Boogaert" (p. 139 in Red), which reminded me not only of the chromatic experiments by Paul Klee but Gerhard Richter's 256 Farben, which makes me smile every time I see it at SFMOMA.
So, naturally, I have a shelf of books on color, including slim studies by Wittgenstein, Jarman, and the extravagant essays on primary and secondary colors by Alexander Theroux. But there's nothing as fine as the beautiful series of books published in English by Princeton by the French medievalist Michel Pastoureau.
Red, like its predecessors Blue, Black and Green, documents the history of a specific color. Significantly,
the perception of colors is not just a biological or neurobiological phenonmenon; it is also a cultural phenomenon that calls upon knowledge,Which is why Pastoureau confines his commentary to the history of this color in Europe, but it's a "Europe" going back millennia to the cave paintings of Chauvet and the tombs of the Pharaohs. Red is the archetypal power color; for thousands of years humanity's most preferred color (displaced only in recent centuries by blue and green). Thanks to the book's superb design and production, the reader can follow the fortunes of red in its spectacular permutations, through paintings, textiles, heraldry, fairy tales and politics. There isn't a boring page in the book, and the illustrations are sumptuous: invitations to reverie that I accepted again and again.
memory, imagination, feelings, relations with others, and more generally, life in society.
I won't attempt a summary, except to say that I was most surprised to learn that not only the meaning but the perception of red (and perhaps all color) shift around Newton's discovery of the spectrum in 1666. One example – prior to that point, pink was understood as a mixture of white and yellow. And (to return to my original enthusiasm) I was delighted to come upon the invention of color swatches by the Dutch watercolorist "A. Boogaert" (p. 139 in Red), which reminded me not only of the chromatic experiments by Paul Klee but Gerhard Richter's 256 Farben, which makes me smile every time I see it at SFMOMA.
February 4, 2021
Книга полностью посвящена цвету! Автор говорит о цвете с научной, социальной, религиозной и художественной точек зрения.
Красный, достаточно противоречивый цвет – цвет силы и власти, огня и ада, революции и энергии.
В книге много разных исторических фактов, именно на них и строится всё произведение. Много исследований, о которых я даже не подразумевала, что такие существуют!
Например, с какой частотой, в каком контексте и с какой интонацией упоминаются в древних языках различные термины: слова „красный“, „белый“ и „черный“ встречаются гораздо чаще, чем названия остальных цветов. Но во всех выборках и во всех словарях лидирует красный, именно с этим цветом связано наибольшее количество хроматических терминов как в греческом и латинском, так и в древнееврейском языке. Конечно, речь идет только о письменном языке.
«Возьмем в качестве первого примера Библию и исследование ее текста, которое Франсуа Жаксон провел на материале ее древнейших версий на древнееврейском и арамейском языках. Работа была проделана громадная, а результат оказался скромным: в Библии мало, очень мало упоминается о цветах…исследование четко выявляет один лексический и хроматический факт: преобладание красного. Три четверти всех цветовых обозначений вписываются в гамму красных тонов; это весьма обширная гамма, ее диапазон — от рыжего до пурпурного, а между ними умещаются всевозможные оттенки светло- и темно-красного. За красными с большим отрывом следуют различные нюансы белого и черного»
Красный, достаточно противоречивый цвет – цвет силы и власти, огня и ада, революции и энергии.
В книге много разных исторических фактов, именно на них и строится всё произведение. Много исследований, о которых я даже не подразумевала, что такие существуют!
Например, с какой частотой, в каком контексте и с какой интонацией упоминаются в древних языках различные термины: слова „красный“, „белый“ и „черный“ встречаются гораздо чаще, чем названия остальных цветов. Но во всех выборках и во всех словарях лидирует красный, именно с этим цветом связано наибольшее количество хроматических терминов как в греческом и латинском, так и в древнееврейском языке. Конечно, речь идет только о письменном языке.
«Возьмем в качестве первого примера Библию и исследование ее текста, которое Франсуа Жаксон провел на материале ее древнейших версий на древнееврейском и арамейском языках. Работа была проделана громадная, а результат оказался скромным: в Библии мало, очень мало упоминается о цветах…исследование четко выявляет один лексический и хроматический факт: преобладание красного. Три четверти всех цветовых обозначений вписываются в гамму красных тонов; это весьма обширная гамма, ее диапазон — от рыжего до пурпурного, а между ними умещаются всевозможные оттенки светло- и темно-красного. За красными с большим отрывом следуют различные нюансы белого и черного»
April 22, 2018
Michel Pastoureau continues his series of books on the history of colors with this gorgeous new volume. I have been following this process since "Blue" was first published, and each new volume provides a deeper understanding of how colors have shaped our cultures, and their changing meanings over the passage of time. Anyone interested in art history, fashion, design, or simply the changing face of European culture over time will want to read this book. "Red" particularly addresses the "face" of culture, since it figured prominently in make-up among aristocrats in the 18th century, when they strived to look as pale as possible, using lead-based make-up and taking arsenic tablets to increase their pallor, outlining their veins with blue, and then placing a gash of red on their mouths and cheeks.
August 12, 2017
Concerning art: Lots of excellent information about how different cultures preferred different colors, how those colors were made, and how expensive they were. Lots of interesting information about what different colors and objects symbolized in paintings too. Apparently during the middle ages, a feud between the red dye merchants and blue dye merchants cause the red crew to pay for stained glass windows and murals and things in which the devil is blue, in order to discredit the color and make blue less popular. It didn't work.
Concerning history: Lots of excellent information about fashion, make-up, politics, and all manner of other things affecting color. Apparently pink did not enter the English vocabulary until the 18th century. Isaac Newton's role in color theory. Talons Rouge. Bonnets Rouge. Communists. Lots of fun facts.
Concerning history: Lots of excellent information about fashion, make-up, politics, and all manner of other things affecting color. Apparently pink did not enter the English vocabulary until the 18th century. Isaac Newton's role in color theory. Talons Rouge. Bonnets Rouge. Communists. Lots of fun facts.
September 6, 2017
As THE color for much of recorded history (overtaken by blue only in the last several hundred years), it would be hard not to write a decent history of the color red. And Pastoureau has proven able to task of writing an engrossing book. In fact it was the review of this work that led me to this series several months ago, and I am not disappointed. Because he's written three books already on colors, Pastoureau could dispense with much of the basic history and background of colors, dyeing, art, etc. and really zero in on the treasures of red over the centuries. And it is quite interesting. Art, geography, science, religion, politics, royalty, fashion--it's all here, and well worth the read.
March 12, 2021
Пастуро хороший, но принцип один цвет - одна книжка перестал работать где-то между второй и третьей книгами. Если бы их слить в одну, было бы прекрасно, а так писать о чем-то надо, но если за уши не притягивать, то материала там страниц на 50, плюс постоянные отсылки к тому, что было написано про черный, синий и зеленый цвета, и это оправдано, потому что ничто не существует в вакууме. Плюс самоповторы. Один абзац почти дословно повторен внутри одной главы. Я перепроверила, действительно, и даже написано "как я уже писал выше". Да вроде читатель при памяти, 10 страниц не пролистал, а тут напоминания.
March 14, 2017
The volume is one in a series on the history of particular colors. The French author, professor at the Sorbonne, has already published, Blue, Black and Green. The history begins in antiquity and runs up to the present. Everything you could want to know about the historical, cultural, anthropological and scientific aspects of the color red is extricated.
The book is highly entertaining and lavishly illustrated. Whether you associate red with fire science, forbidden pleasures, blood, or maybe the Holy Spirit, you can read about it in this work.
The book is highly entertaining and lavishly illustrated. Whether you associate red with fire science, forbidden pleasures, blood, or maybe the Holy Spirit, you can read about it in this work.
March 3, 2020
Il tono è un po’ fastidioso, saccente a tratti, sbrigativo e a volte paternalistico, ma gli spunti sono molti e tutti interessanti. Per raccontare la storia di un colore, dalla materialità al concetto astratto, si spazia in ambiti non sempre familiari agli storici dell’arte, soprattutto in quello della percezione dei colori nelle diverse epoche, che quasi mai corrisponde alla nostra. Non mancano le notazioni chimiche, economiche e sociali, ma gli aspetti più innovativi sono forse nel campo della linguistica e dell’iconologia.
September 3, 2017
This is a superb contribution to the history of color. Read this book if you want to find out
1 why socialists and communists use red flag
2 why most state flags use the color red
3 the methods of producing red cloth and colorants in Europe
1 why socialists and communists use red flag
2 why most state flags use the color red
3 the methods of producing red cloth and colorants in Europe
November 20, 2018
Quite an interesting book on the history of the color red. Michel Pastoureau gives the reader an all-around analogy from ancient and biblical times to its art-forms and how it represents flags as well as politics--all in good times and bad. This is Book 4 in his series of the History of Color.
As an avid reader, writer and illustrator, I enjoyed how Pastoureau describes the first color "triad" (red-white-and-black) in literature in fairy tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Snow White". I never would have noticed this concept without reading "Red". Though it isn't shown in the book, I guess Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" would also fall under this category as well as "The Red Badge of Courage".
"Red" got my attention due to its cover photo. Raphael and his student Giulio Romano (who did most of the painting of "Isabel de Requesens") make this portrait so life-life, especially with the red velvet she is wearing. I liked how Pastoureau uses art from different eras to help move this book along. Another chapter I liked was devoted to the color pink. At one point, the author describes the color as a "masculine red". However, pink and blue's "gender division" between girls and boys didn't occur until around the 1930's (see page 149 for details).
I will definitely be reading "Red" again. But first I will read "Blue", "Black" and "Green" before going back to Book #4. Pastoureau, from what I've heard, is working on a fifth book called "Yellow". After "Yellow", he should work on a sixth book on "White". That way Michel Pastoureau will have all six of the basic colors in the series. It would be worth waiting to read.
Rating on "Red": *****
As an avid reader, writer and illustrator, I enjoyed how Pastoureau describes the first color "triad" (red-white-and-black) in literature in fairy tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Snow White". I never would have noticed this concept without reading "Red". Though it isn't shown in the book, I guess Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" would also fall under this category as well as "The Red Badge of Courage".
"Red" got my attention due to its cover photo. Raphael and his student Giulio Romano (who did most of the painting of "Isabel de Requesens") make this portrait so life-life, especially with the red velvet she is wearing. I liked how Pastoureau uses art from different eras to help move this book along. Another chapter I liked was devoted to the color pink. At one point, the author describes the color as a "masculine red". However, pink and blue's "gender division" between girls and boys didn't occur until around the 1930's (see page 149 for details).
I will definitely be reading "Red" again. But first I will read "Blue", "Black" and "Green" before going back to Book #4. Pastoureau, from what I've heard, is working on a fifth book called "Yellow". After "Yellow", he should work on a sixth book on "White". That way Michel Pastoureau will have all six of the basic colors in the series. It would be worth waiting to read.
Rating on "Red": *****
December 2, 2022
Нормально. Кто-то пишет, что слишком поверхностно, но я этому сильно рад. Автор все же не стал уходить в дебри символизма и искусствоведения, поэтому читать это не восторженному романтику гораздо проще. Но даже пытаясь остаться на почве относительно научной, конечно, разговор о цвете это сложно: множество противоречий и диаметрально противоположных символических определений. Мне скорее было интересно взглянуть на изменение восприятия цвета у разных обществ. Это в книге есть, это и самое интересное.
По остальному: побольше бы примеров и поменьше голословных утверждений. То, что автор повторяется - простительно, но, порой, просто не понимаешь откуда берутся некоторые тезисы, даже со скидкой на всю неточность, присущую исследованиям символов, да еще и таких обширных как цвет. Короче, я привык ворчать на наших археологов, которые любую попытку историков обобщить, выделить какие-то взаимосвязи, построить некую концепцию, воспринимают в штыки ("слишком далекоидущие выводы, мы должны придерживаться лишь имеющегося материала"), но Пастуро, даже по моим меркам, очень часто лихо натягивает сову на глобус. Тем не менее, как я уже писал выше, поверхностность книги скорее ее плюс, чем минус. Поэтому занять один-два вечера на 100 страничек прикольных фактов о цвете, особенностях его "добычи" и восприятия в разные эпохи, на мой взгляд, дело приятное. Забыл добавить, что другие цвета тоже, скорее всего, прочту.
По остальному: побольше бы примеров и поменьше голословных утверждений. То, что автор повторяется - простительно, но, порой, просто не понимаешь откуда берутся некоторые тезисы, даже со скидкой на всю неточность, присущую исследованиям символов, да еще и таких обширных как цвет. Короче, я привык ворчать на наших археологов, которые любую попытку историков обобщить, выделить какие-то взаимосвязи, построить некую концепцию, воспринимают в штыки ("слишком далекоидущие выводы, мы должны придерживаться лишь имеющегося материала"), но Пастуро, даже по моим меркам, очень часто лихо натягивает сову на глобус. Тем не менее, как я уже писал выше, поверхностность книги скорее ее плюс, чем минус. Поэтому занять один-два вечера на 100 страничек прикольных фактов о цвете, особенностях его "добычи" и восприятия в разные эпохи, на мой взгляд, дело приятное. Забыл добавить, что другие цвета тоже, скорее всего, прочту.
April 19, 2025
"Rosso: guida per l'uso" sarebbe stato un titolo altrettanto appropriato per questo volume ricco di curiosità e spunti su uno dei colori primari, non solo nel senso vero del termine, ma anche per il ruolo di rilievo che da sempre gioca nell'immaginario collettivo.
Dall'ambito tecnico e artistico, a quello linguistico, fino agli aspetti più ordinari del nostro quotidiano, il rosso è una presenza costante, sebbene spesso nascosto o dato per scontato. Questa narrazione attraverso la storia parla dell'evoluzione cromatica di questo colore sia dal punto di vista tecnico delle modalità di estrazione del pigmento e della tintura che concettuale. A quali pensieri, emozioni e immagini è associato il rosso? Quali sono gli eventi storici e fatti culturali che lo hanno portato a questo?
Tutte domande alle quali Michel Pastoureau dà risposte esaustive con toni accattivanti adatti a ogni tipo di lettore, limitandosi tuttavia - e solo per ragioni di spazio e di ambito dei propri studi - al mondo occidentale. Sarebbe interessante leggere un saggio analogo sul rosso nella cultura orientale...
Dall'ambito tecnico e artistico, a quello linguistico, fino agli aspetti più ordinari del nostro quotidiano, il rosso è una presenza costante, sebbene spesso nascosto o dato per scontato. Questa narrazione attraverso la storia parla dell'evoluzione cromatica di questo colore sia dal punto di vista tecnico delle modalità di estrazione del pigmento e della tintura che concettuale. A quali pensieri, emozioni e immagini è associato il rosso? Quali sono gli eventi storici e fatti culturali che lo hanno portato a questo?
Tutte domande alle quali Michel Pastoureau dà risposte esaustive con toni accattivanti adatti a ogni tipo di lettore, limitandosi tuttavia - e solo per ragioni di spazio e di ambito dei propri studi - al mondo occidentale. Sarebbe interessante leggere un saggio analogo sul rosso nella cultura orientale...
March 15, 2021
I've given up on waiting for my library to buy these color history books and have started buying them for myself without reading them first. Which, if you know me, is pretty shocking behavior. But it really speaks to the fact that these color history books are just that awesome. (At the very least, I love love love the illustrations - they are both plentiful and sumptous.) I mean, the author is so very, very European, old school white dude, and yet despite that, he does a shit-ton of work to bring together so much European history on these colors. Work I'm certainly not going to do myself.
Red seems to have a deeper history than any of the previously covered colors. Honestly, that deepest history was kinda boring to me (sorry ancient Greeks and Romans - not sorry, you're just boring to me). But as the author progressed through the centuries I was able to find so many delightful tidbits on red through the ages. That's the sort of thing that keeps me reading these color books!
Red seems to have a deeper history than any of the previously covered colors. Honestly, that deepest history was kinda boring to me (sorry ancient Greeks and Romans - not sorry, you're just boring to me). But as the author progressed through the centuries I was able to find so many delightful tidbits on red through the ages. That's the sort of thing that keeps me reading these color books!
September 25, 2024
Oh, to be Red! So I read —hehe— for some unknown reason first about Blue, but it should have probably been about White, Black or Red, the original color triad. I loved Blue so much, even if it lacked van Eyck's blue, that I went straight to its modern opposite, Red, and I thought it would be at least as interesting as Blue. Turns out there's a lot to say about Red from prehistory up to now, but basically Red became at some point the symbolic color of Love, Blood, Passion, Fire, Danger, Luxury, Nobility: it's quite fun to read how ambivalent the color was for some centuries, representing both the blood of Christ and the never-ending fire of Hell, while Blue was completely ignored. There's the last part about flags which frankly I do not care, and there are things already said in Blue that I expect to find once again in Green, but I really can't complain much more. Fantastic collection, very much necessary, about color.
August 1, 2019
Kitab özündə böyük həcmdə informasiya daşıyır. "Su" yoxdur və bu inanılmaz dərəcədə kitabı yorucu edir, tamamən quraqlıq da yaxşı şey deyil. Məlumat o qədər boldur ki, qəbul edib, tez-tez oxuyub keçmək mümkünsüzdür. Bu ürəyimizi üzən xüsusiyyəti çıxsaq əsər tamamilə adını doğruldur, həqiqətən də rəngin tarixini oxuyub günümüzə necə qarışdığına şahid oluruq. Göy rəngdə olan kimi burada da kitab yarılayandan sonra daha axıcı gedir. Ola bilər o qədər də uzaq olmayan keçmişə yaxınlaşmaq və tarixin bu dövrlərinə şahid olduğumuzu anlamaq işimizi yüngülləşdirir. Amma belə #birnəfəsə deyə bilməyəcəm.
February 19, 2020
Neste volume, o olhar cheio de conhecimento do historiador foca-se na cor vermelha. Como é habitual, leva-nos ao longo do que mais do que uma história da cor, é uma história de culturas e costumes. Mostra-nos como evoluiu a nossa perceção sobre essa cor, cruzando técnicas com economia, religião, cultura e costumes. O valor que damos às cores tem profundas raízes culturais, e é no traçar dos caminhos destas raízes que se foca o trabalho de Pastoreau.
August 2, 2020
Pastoureau è sempre estremamente interessante, anche se a volte disperde con una mole di informazioni enorme, specialmente quando ricapitola centinaia di anni di visione del mondo in poche righe. Molte cose le aveva già accennate nel suo grande classico "medioevo simbolico", ma altre, specialmente per quanto riguarda l'età contemporanea, mi risultano nuove.
3.5 stelle, ma mezza stella in più per la bellissima edizione, corroborata da colo i sgargianti..
3.5 stelle, ma mezza stella in più per la bellissima edizione, corroborata da colo i sgargianti..
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