Blu: Storia di un colore

Histoire d'une couleur #1

by Michel Pastoureau, Fabrizio Ascari (Translator)

Ormai è il colore preferito dalla maggior parte delle persone, eppure la storia ci insegna che non è sempre stato così: presso gli antichi Greci e Romani, per esempio, il blu aveva una connotazione fortemente negativa, tanto da essere associato agli spregevoli Barbari. A documentare la lenta ma progressiva inversione di tendenza che lo riguarda è un grande esperto in materia come Michel Pastoureau, che ripercorre le principali tappe di questo significativo rovesciamento e dà vita a un articolato excursus storico che mette in luce l’uso quotidiano, la «rivalità» con gli altri colori, il valore simbolico, il ruolo economico, artistico e letterario che il blu ha avuto dal Neolitico sino ai giorni nostri.
Considerato un fatto sociale in piena regola, il blu e le sue alterne fortune rappresentano pertanto il ritratto in continuo divenire di una società, quella umana, costantemente impegnata a fissare e ridefinire la propria scala di valori.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Art History, Microhistory, Design, France

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Pastoureau 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.

Reviews

[Kalliope · Rating 4 out of 5]

YOUTHFUL BLUES

We are so used to see colours at their best that we no longer see their richness. Any tone, any tint, any hue now is as it should be.

But it wasn’t always like this. Not too long ago, endowing colours to objects was a difficult, expensive, laborious, and sometime politically dangerous endeavour. Back then it was not so much their chromatic tone as their depth that mattered. Luminosity and richness, saturation and concentration were the valued qualities of a colour. Those were the colouring values. So much so that some tints were ignored.

From Pastoureau we learn that for a fairly long time, in the West, only a few colours were talked about and blue was not one of them. Blue is a young colour.

Talking about a colour means endowing colour with a place in language. The Greeks did not really have a term for blue. They used the word Glaukos to refer to a light tone, while Kyaneus alluded to a mineral and to being dark. And we have Homer missing his blues and alluding to the wine-dark sea. They did however have the word Indikon, but it referred to the material pigment of Asian origins, rather than to its chromatics. Even in the Bible blue is not found, while red has a blatant presence. It is after all a fairly violent book. The Romans knew blue, but paid little attention to it since they had seen that the Barbarians (from the Germanic lands and Brittany) painted their own selves in blue. The Romans relegated the tone to the lower classes and to backgrounds in decorative uses.

The conspicuous neglect of blue in the Greek world perplexed the nineteenth century when it was concluded that the Greeks simply could not see, physiologically, this colour. Thanks to a social and historical approach our current understanding is that blue had not gained its own cultural space. As Pastoureau says, it was not a question of vision but of perception.

The most secured path when tracking the history of colour is to follow that of dyeing and dyers. And this began in Asia and Africa, and at the beginning there were only three tones: white, black and red. They were the three poles for the two axes. White was the centre and Black was its opposite in terms of Luminosity, while Red was the other extreme for Density.

When cultural consciousness began identifying blue, Latin had to borrow new terms from other languages. Azureus came from Arabic while Blavus arrived from Germanic tongues. Red, however, not only did have more of its own language but the word colour itself implied red. Some languages such as Spanish have kept the word colorado for red.

If blue is not a biblical colour, it did not manage to get its codified place in Christian liturgy either. Worship was cast in red, white, black, green, gold and violet. Blue, however, begins to appear, modestly, in the arts in the West around 1000, but was not clearly distinguishable until just less than two centuries later. Its advent was embroiled in the theological discussion on whether colour was a quality of light or of the object. If the former, then it was also divine and immaterial, but if it pertained to the latter, its materiality immediately demoted it to the superficial Vanitas. Venerated or shunned. This was the Cluniac and Cistercian debate.

Those who enjoy iridescence have to thank Abbot Suger’s passionate defence of colour in his De consecratione. He presented it as a component of godly light and therefore the concomitant element of the visual and architectural arts that this treatise strongly defended. For it is in the filtering of the sacred sunrays that blue makes a magnificent presence as it pervades with its hue the glorious space. In Suger’s Abbey the anointing blue was christened as Bleu Saint Denis.

Having acquired the same preciosity as Sapphire, the hue extended its presence to enamels and to illuminations of luxurious book pages. In manuscripts it jumps from backgrounds to the most exquisite presence, the tunic or the mantle of the virgin.

From art it was easy for blue to run onto people’s clothes, and in France we have King Saint Louis ostentatiously wearing it. Of course, the Capetians had already started using it somewhat earlier as they adopted the virginal Lys and the Azur for their armour. Louis made blue the hue of royalty and Heraldry provided the international channels for further European distribution.

Suger was right but so was Saint Bernard. Colour is part of light but its materiality cannot be denied either. Colour has its physics and its chemistry. Pigments, accessing to them and their deployment were not obvious tasks. Lapis lazuli, indigo (indigotine) or woad for blues, and madder and cochineal for reds, turned men’s minds and purses around. Pastoureau does not dwell in detail on the peculiarities in the handling of these pigments, but gives a fascinating account of how different and powerful economic centres developed in Europe: in Thuringia, Tuscany and the Languedoc their wealth had been tinted with blue.

The rapid ascendancy of blue continued during the middle ages and, together with green and yellow, it succeeded in breaking the stable trio of white-black-red. But another black entered the scene and the Black Death in mid fourteenth century halted, amongst other things, the way the new array of tones were perceived.

The aftermath of the plague brought about the stringent Sumptuary Laws. Pastoureau unfolds the tripartite dimensions of these Laws: the Economic, the Ethical and the Ideological. But all these laws tinted with different moral tones all the colours, with red acquiring its reprehensible scarlet tone. Red was seen in its full amoral blush, while blue, similarly to the way it avoided liturgy, also stood on the sides of morality.

If penance filtered sin in the coloured senses, their denial would mark the path to follow. The fifteenth century is the century of black and the budding house of Burgundy, when it spread its cosmopolitan presence, would then install it in several of the European courts. Blue, in its darker variety benefited from its blackish lustre.

When Christian religion split again, its hues also separated and we see a renewal of the Cluniac-Cistercian debate amongst the Reformation and the Catholic branches. But this time it was only the chromatic aspect, and not the richness or saturation of the tone, what was judged as a contemptible display of wealth.

It had to be the century of the Enlightenment when light was finally shed on colour. Newton displayed the full spectrum and with it black and white ceased to be seen as colours. The rainbow, which for centuries had been identified as a gradation of six colours, finally acquired its seventh, blue. The labels of Primary and Complementary were attached to the different wavelengths, and new additional qualities were identified. Some hues were cold and some warm.

And yet, Newton forgot about perception. It was Goethe who recovered it from Aristotle in his Zur Farbenlehre in 1810. The subject, and not just the prism, was important in the formation of colour. Goethe also made blue the hue of Romanticism when he covered his Werther in this tone. And it was also in Germanic lands were the very successful Prussian blue was precipitated and where later the synthetic anilines started a new, and huge, industry.

Blue is both a beautiful and fascinating subject and Pastoureau draws attention to many interesting aspects. But it is a complex theme, and while at times a bit repetitive, he does not discuss enough the uses of the blue in the Ancient Middle East and Egypt, nor its appearance in decorative uses in the Greek world. Similarly, the uses of blue in the Arabic world and its entrance in the West through them would have been a welcomed angle.

After reading this book I now see blue differently. It is certainly much more luminous.

[AiK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Если Пастуро удивляется, почему даже в средневековых европейских сочинениях, не говоря о древнегреческих и древнеримских, не упоминается синий цвет, меня удивляет, почему он, будучи историком, в своей книге "Синий. История цвета" лишь мельком упоминает о синих красках, привозимых с Востока - индиго из Индии и лазурит из Персии, а история их употребления на Востоке в древности вообще не раскрывается. Парадокс. Синий цвет Древняя Греция и Рим не знали, считали варварскими, поскольку древние кельты и германцы использовали природный синий краситель вайда для устрашения римлян, раскрашивая свои тела. Синие краски на Востоке были издревле известны, привозились в Европу, но как они использовались в древней Индии или древних государствах на территории Персии, - к сожалению, оказалось за пределами научного интереса Пастуро.
Синий цвет пришел именно с Востока, поэтому, на мой взгляд, в работе имеется существенный пробел по истории цвета в других частях света.

В Европу лазурит или ляпис-лазурь поставлялась вплоть до конца Средних веков исключительно из Центральной Азии, и из-за этого даже назывался "бухарским камнем".

В главе о раннем средневековье Пастуро пишет, что нет ни одного топонима со словом синий. Да, для Европы это утверждение справделиво, но не для остального мира! Древнетюркское государство называлось Göktürk, (Gök - тюркский корень слова "синий"), что означает голубые или синие тюрки. В Казахстане много топонимов со словом "көк", что означает синий. Тюркам синий цвет был известен издревле, более того, он был сакрален, и во многом это было связано с культом бога неба Тенгри. Бухарские, самаркандские и хивинские купола имеют ярко лазурный цвет и построены в средние века.
История цвета у Мишеля Пастуро - это в первую очередь, история цвета в религии, разумеется, христианской, и более того, в протестантской. Хотя может быть, это связано с тем, что большинство сохранившихся артефактов - это религиозные. Во вторую очередь, история цвета в Европе. Это существенно ограничивает рамки исследования и в какой-то мере можно даже назвать дискриминационным подходом к изучению предмета.

Из несомненных достоинств можно упомянуть, что в книге много удивительных фактов и не только про синий цвет. Интересны истории использования растительного красителя вайды, создания французского флага, создания нового синтетического оттенка синего - "берлинская лазурь", Ньютоновых открытий в цвете, истории джинсов.
Интересно, что по представлениям древних, зеленый является средним между чернотой, белизной и краснотой. Также занимательны факты цветовосприятия. У некоторых народов Африки цвета делятся на грустные и веселые, у японцев белых оттенков очень много, в основном отличающиеся степенью блеска и матовости, что западный человек не способен различать. Это весьма занимательная книга, которая очень расширит Ваш кругозор.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Argh! I wrote a 300 word review for this book and it was eaten by the GR popup :(
Will rewrite.
In two words: blue rocks. And there are other colors too.
La guerre entre guede rt garance a été gagné par indigo!

[Ярослава]

Трактат Гете для нашого дослідження важливий через місце, яке він відводить синьому кольору: синій і жовтий у ньому утворюють два основні полюси системи. Він бачить у поєднанні (або злитті) цих двох кольорів абсолютну хроматичну гармонію.

Гете бро, українці теж певні, що синій і жовтий - це абсолютна гармонія)))

"Синій" Пастуро - неймовірно цікавий погляд на речі, про які я не задумувалася раніше, з масою химерних детальок. Загалом, зрозуміло, що колір - це не даність, а історично мінливий культурний конструкт, різні культури по-різному ділять строкатий світ на конкретні кольори і приписують кольорам різне символічне значення. Пастуро стверджує, що "Історія кольору - це історія суспільства ... Саме суспільство "творить" колір, дає йому визначення і сенс, конструює його коди й цінності, організовує його застосуваня", і в цьому томі (а це частина більшого циклу - вже відкрито передзамовлення на "Жовтий") аналізує, внаслідок яких суспільних, релігійних, політичних і т.і. змін синій з кольору в кращому разі невидимого, в гіршому маркера ворога (у Римській імперії синій асоціюється з варварами) перетворюється на, так би мовити, дефолтний колір нашого часу - і по ходу ви дізнаєтеся дуже багато різного про все на світі, від вузькоспеціалізованих середньовічних гільдій фарбувальників тканин до історії французького прапору, від впливу колоніальних визисків на естетику до впливу умов окопної війни на моду. Ще й видання дуже гарне, з якісними ілюстраціями.

[verbava · Rating 3 out of 5]

мабуть, я читала їх у неправильному порядку: після «чорного» «синій» здається не таким ґрунтовним і вражає вже трохи менше.
хоча пастуро сам пише, що для історика головне – пояснити, звідки зненацька береться мода на синій, він розповідає більше про стан справ, аніж про те, як так вийшло, та й відповідь на це друге запитання зазвичай звучить «бо люди». наприклад, давні римляни не любили синього, бо в синьому ходили варвари, а ще його вважали траурним. а реформатори, навпаки, вподобали синій, бо спершу внаслідок поширення законів проти розкоші (і досягнень фарбувальної промисловості) набув популярності чорний, а потім уже якось логічно стався перехід до трошки світлішого кольору, поміркованого й небесного.
але смачних деталей у цій книжці дуже багато. про блакитні очі як знак жіночої розпусності в античному світі (що особливо цікаво, якщо врахувати, що ні грецька, ні латинська античність не мала слова для виразного опису синього кольору – прикметники, які до нього застосовували, були в найкращому разі полісемантичні). про спектр, який іще тисячу років тому сприймали зовсім не так, як сьогодні, і в якому синій і жовтий були такі далекі, що ніхто й не змішував їх, щоб отримати зелений. про закони, які століття до шістнадцятого відділяли фарбувальників, які працюють із червоним і жовтим, від тих, які працюють із синім і зеленим, – це не могли бути ті самі люди. і нехай ці історії не обов'язково складаються в цілісний наратив, розповідати їх пастуро все-таки добре вміє.

[Олена Рябченко · Rating 4 out of 5]

Я й не думала що про колір можна написати цілу книгу, та ще й таку, що відірватися просто неможливо.
* Є теорія, що древні греки і римляни не бачили синього кольору, бо про нього зовсім ніде не згадується, або ж бачили його по-іншому
* в древніх трактатах вважали, що у веселці немає й натяку на синій колір
* так само там вважали, що колір може бути або матеріальним, або ж це просто спектр світла. В другому випадку – коли людина перестає дивитися на колір, він в свою чергу перестає існувати
* синім кольором фарбувалися варвари, тому колір був непопулярний зі зрозумілих причин. Так само блакитні очі і руде волосся – найгидкіші риси зовнішності.
* синява ніколи не асоціювалася ні з небом ні з водою. Вода була зелена, а небо сіре, жовте, рожеве, та яке завгодно тільки не синє.
* вайда та індиго – два синіх барвники, запекла війна між якими точилася аж поки не синтезували штучний синій колір
* Церква хотіла дискредитувати синій колір, щоб мода на нього зникла. Для цього пекло зображували в синіх кольорах
* Гете і до Гете вважали синій теплим кольором
* Синій відсутній у релігійній символіці, аж доки діву Марію починають малювати в синьому одязі. Потім видають декрет про непорочне зачаття і колір змінюється на білий на золотий.
* Зараз синій найулюбленіший колір за даними соціологічних опитувань – неймовірне досягнення, якщо припустити що в древні часи люди його просто не бачили.

[Susan Dermond · Rating 3 out of 5]

fascinating; did you know Europeans never wore blue until the Middle Ages or later? not for everyone; it's a specialized subject. I think you have to like history and/or art. Lavishly illustrated.

[Ruth Charchian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have thought that the color blue was not only hated but not named, or tolerated until the 14th century. Prior to that time it was thought to be a "hot" color. Now it is considered to be a "cool" color. It was culturally and socially unacceptable to wear blue. Today, most people prefer blue to any other color. Our culture accepts it primarily due to the unversal acceptance of blue jeans beginning with Levi Strauss in the 1850s. Red, white and black were the only recognized colors for centuries. The Indigo dye for a deep, rich, vibrant blue was too expensive to ship from the middle east. Only when artists painted the Virgin did blue become more and more acceptable over time. The book is full of exquisite color pictures and historical descriptions. The price of this book at the local book store is $270 which indicates how well thought out and laid out this book was published. It is a fascinating and entertaining story about a simple color and the cultures and societies that impacted it throughout Western history.

[Argos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michel Pastoureau’dan okuduğum ikinci kitap Mavi. Daha önce “Siyah:Bir Rengin Tarihi”ni okumuştum. “Mavi”yi daha önce yazmış, bu nedenle biraz daha cansız bir okuma yaratan bir kitap. “Siyah”taki akıcılık, standartizasyon “Mavi”de yok. Buna rağmen Mavi rengin tarihsel serüvenini, sanat, edebiyat ve siyasetteki karşılığını, giyim-kuşam ve dinsel alandaki kullanımlarını çok genişçe irdeleyen bir çalışma.

Michel Pastoureau, Mavi’nin en sevilen renk olması ile diğer renklerden farklı bir simgeselliğe sahip olduğunu vurguluyor. Giyimde BlueJeans, müzikte Blues ile mavinin toplumsal yaygınlığını ve yerini anlatıyor, yansız bir renk olarak 20. yüzyılı tamamen kapsadığını ve 21. yüzyıla taşındığını belirtiyor.

Antik Çağlar’dan Ortaçağ’a kadar mavinin adının bile geçmediğini ilk kez 14. yüzyılda kayıtlarda görüldüğünü vurgulayan yazar günümüzde mavinin özgürlük ve mutlulukla eşanlamlı olduğunu vurguluyor. Çok iyi bir bilgi kaynağı, keyifle okunuyor.

[Katerina · Rating 3 out of 5]

«На страницах настоящей книги не хватило места для обстоятельного разговора на эту тему, однако данный аспект символики синего цвета чрезвычайно важен». Я что-то упустила, или Пастуро законодательно запретили писать книги длиннее 150 страниц? Получилось бегло и, на мой взгляд, небрежно, хоть и видно, что исследовательский материал хороший.

[Inna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely overview of the emergence of blue as an important color in medieval Europe an of its changes of connotations up to the modern period, when blue constitutes the most neutral color.

[Cristian · Rating 4 out of 5]

En su presentación, este es un libro de arte; en la práctica, una genialidad de historia cultural. Como parte de la colección del estudio histórico-cultural de los colores, Pastoureau presenta el color azul como un matiz extraño y de fascinante evolución. El análisis es cronológico y extremadamente eurocéntrico (hasta el punto de que incluso los Estados Unidos quedan en buena parte excluidos), pero para las pocas páginas con las que trabaja, es exhaustivo en sus ejemplos y el viaje histórico se siente muy fluido.

La obra se discute alrededor de una triada de perspectivas en las que se adentra subjetivamente: por una parte, el estudio físico del color, luchando contra la pseudociencia del s.XIX para explicar percepción a través de la raza o contra la magnanimidad de las teorías newtonianas para explicar los colores sólo a través de la ciencia; en segundo lugar, el estudio técnico del color, su creación, incluyendo información detallada sobre las materias usadas, la geopolítica de los materiales y la coloración de vestimenta y pintura; finalmente, el estudio cultural del color, la importancia de la percepción social y la adecuación a modas, dogmas culturales y cambios políticos en su uso. Aun así, la gran estrella es claramente la percepción y las motivaciones en el ámbito social lo que arrastra el estudio. Es por ello quizá que la pregunta sobre el "color favorito" aparece tan recurrentemente, aunque sin duda da pie a problematizar este elemento.

La obra no está libre de problemas y es que en ocasiones no sabes si estás frente a un libro para amantes del color, estudiantes de arte o investigadores sociales. En numerosas ocasiones, el mismo debate se extiende sin devolver ninguna novedad, con lo que hace difícil seguir el hilo al no haber interés en extender lo ya presentado. Sin embargo, el amplio conocimiento del autor sobre el tema y la importante perspectiva que propone para el estudio histórico de los colores es una delicia para los interesados en este nicho de estudio.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue was a color the Romans associated with barbarism. It is rarely found in bronze age art. Many medieval artists preferred to depict water as green rather than blue. Why? How, when it was so rare throughout history, did blue come to be the most common color in the world today? How-- and why-- did various laws try to prohibit the creation of certain colors? Why did the color blue become associated with the Virgin? These are the questions that M. Pastoureau answers in this sumptuously illustrated history.

[Yolanda Morros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente y ameno! La historia del color azul... desde la antigüedad hasta nuestros días; del pastel al índigo; ...
Si en la Grecia y la Roma clásica era considerado un color desagradable, en nuestra época, en cambio, el azul es el color que prefiere la mayor parte de los europeos. Siendo también un color que se emplea en los símbolos de diversas organizaciones internacionales, como, por ejemplo, la ONU, la UNESCO y la UE.

[Hüseyin Karabacak · Rating 3 out of 5]

olay biraz da doğu medeniyetlerinden alıntılarla anlatılabilirdi. çok batı odaklı olmuş, sınırlı bakış açısı

[Lucrezia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Prendiamo l’esempio di Vermeer, a mio avviso il più grande pittore del secolo. I suoi pigmenti sono quelli della sua epoca. Per i blu, spesso molto vivaci, usa ancora e sempre il lapislazzuli. Ma siccome questo pigmento costa molto caro, lo riserva al lavoro di superficie; sotto, l’abbozzo è realizzato con azzurrite o smalto (in particolare per i cieli), talvolta, ma più di rado, con l’indaco.Per i gialli, oltre alle tradizionali terre ocra, di cui ci si serve dall’antichità, impiega gialli di stagno e, con una certa parsimonia, il nuovo «giallo di Napoli» (che è un antimoniato di piombo); gli italiani lo usano prima dei pittori del nord e in maniera più sciolta. Per i verdi, pochi verdi di rame, instabili e corrosivi, ma molte terre verdi, in Vermeer come in tutti i pittori del XVII secolo. A quest’epoca, infatti, è ancora relativamente raro che si mescolino pigmenti gialli e pigmenti blu per ottenere del verde. Lo si fa, naturalmente, ma è soprattutto nel secolo seguente – con gran rammarico di certi artisti – che questa pratica si generalizzerà. Infine, per i rossi si impiegano il vermiglio, il minio (in piccola quantità), la lacca di cocciniglia o di garanza, il legno del Brasile (anche per i rosa e gli arancione) e le terre rosso-ocra di tutte le sfumature. Nulla di molto originale, dunque, nella tavolozza vermeeriana, come hanno rivelato le analisi di laboratorio. Ma non appena si lascia la tavolozza pigmentaria per concentrarsi sulla tavolozza visiva, Vermeer non somiglia più tanto ai suoi contemporanei. In lui il colorito è più armonioso, più vellutato, più raffinato. Ciò è evidentemente dovuto a un incomparabile lavoro sulla luce, sulle zone chiare e sulle zone di penombra, ma anche a un tocco e a una finitura particolari. Gli storici della pittura hanno detto tutto, o quasi, su questo aspetto del suo genio. Pochi di loro, in compenso, hanno parlato veramente dei colori in sé. Manca lo spazio per farlo qui dettagliatamente, ma bisognerebbe in primo luogo sottolineare il ruolo dei grigi, in particolare dei grigi chiari. È spesso su di essi che poggia tutta l’economia cromatica del quadro. Bisognerebbe poi insistere sulla qualità dei blu. Vermeer è un pittore del blu (e anche del blu e bianco, tanto questi due colori funzionano in lui in associazione). È soprattutto questo lavoro sui blu che, cromaticamente, lo distingue dagli altri pittori olandesi del XVII secolo. Quali che siano il loro talento e le loro qualità, essi non sanno approfittare così sottilmente dei blu. Infine, in Vermeer bisognerebbe ricordare – come fa Marcel Proust – l’importanza delle piccole zone gialle, certe più o meno rosate (come il celeberrimo «pezzetto di muro giallo» della veduta di Delft) e altre più acide. Su questi gialli, questi bianchi e questi blu poggia una gran parte della musica vermeeriana, quella che ci incanta e che ne fa un pittore così diverso dagli altri, non solo il più grande del suo secolo, ma forse anche il più grande di tutti i tempi."

"Tutto cambiò nella prima metà del XVIII secolo. Nel 1709, infatti, fu messo a punto a Berlino un colore artificiale che permise, nella gamma dei blu e dei verdi, prodezze di cui si era stati incapaci per secoli: il blu di Prussia. A dire il vero, questo colore fu scoperto per caso. Un certo Diesbach, droghiere e fabbricante di colori, vendeva un bellissimo rosso che otteneva facendo precipitare con della potassa una decozione di cocciniglia addizionata con solfato di ferro. Un giorno, mancando di potassa, si rifornì da uno speziale poco onesto, Johann Konrad Dippel. Costui gli vendette del carbonato di potassa adulterato di cui si era già servito personalmente per rettificare un olio animale di sua invenzione. Invece del suo solito rosso, Diesbach ottenne un magnifico precipitato blu. Non capì cosa fosse successo, ma Dippel, chimico e uomo d’affari ben più accorto, intuì rapidamente tutto il vantaggio che poteva trarre da tale scoperta. Aveva capito che era stata l’azione della potassa alterata sul solfato di ferro a produrre quello splendido colore blu. Dopo parecchi esperimenti, migliorò il procedimento e commercializzò il nuovo colore sotto il nome di «blu di Berlino».Per più di un decennio Dippel rifiutò di svelare il suo segreto di fabbricazione, cosa che gli permise di accumulare una fortuna considerevole. Ma nel 1724 il chimico inglese Woodward scoprì il segreto e rese pubblica la composizione del nuovo colore. Il blu di Berlino, divenuto nel frattempo «blu di Prussia», poté quindi essere fabbricato in tutta Europa. Rovinato, Dippel lasciò Berlino per la Scandinavia, dove divenne medico del re di Svezia Federico I. Più inventivo che mai, mise a punto parecchie medicine pericolose che gli valsero l’espulsione dalla Svezia e la prigione in Danimarca. Morì nel 1734, ed è ricordato come un chimico abile ma poco scrupoloso, intrigante e avido. Quanto a Diesbach, personaggio di cui non sappiamo niente, nemmeno il nome di battesimo, scomparve poco tempo dopo la sua fortuita scoperta, che trasformò la tavolozza dei pittori per circa due secoli. Contrariamente a una leggenda dura a morire – forse legata alla cattiva fama di Dippel – il blu di Prussia non è tossico e non si trasforma in acido prussico (o cianidrico). In compenso, è poco stabile alla luce e gli alcali lo distruggono (il che ne vieta l’impiego in certe pitture). Ma il suo potere colorante è molto elevato e, mescolato ad altri colori, produce toni stupendi e trasparenti. Le arti decorative della fine del XVIII secolo e dell’inizio del XIX lo hanno perciò utilizzato su vasta scala per fabbricare tappezzerie verdi. In seguito, i pittori impressionisti e tutti gli artisti che dipingevano en pleine air gli hanno riservato una sorta di culto, malgrado il suo carattere instabile e invadente."

[Roman Zadorozhnii · Rating 4 out of 5]

Гарно оформлена книга, яка пояснює та ілюструє історію синього кольору від непомітності в античну добу до зростання його впливу в ХІІ-ХVII столітті (колір Діви Марії, гербів, використання королями, колір доброчесності) та завоювання статусу найпопулярнішого від ХVIII до сьогодення (романтичний синій: від фрака Вертера до блюзових ритмів; колір миру, та колір, який носять найчастіше: від військової форми до джинсів)

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хорошо, но мало, хотелось бы побольше материала.

[Nat · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author begins this history with audacious claims about the irrelevance (p.10) of human biology to the "process of ascribing meaning to color", insisting instead that color is a "social phenomenon". The author does a fine job illustrating the second claim throughout the book, showing how attitudes towards colors change over time with changes in religious belief and social practices. But the first, audacious claim has to be false. There is ample evidence that the structure of color perception is dependent on the fact that humans are trichromats, and that facts about color opposition (red is opposed to green, blue to yellow) are due to the role of opponent-processes in the human visual system. And biological facts, like genetic color deficiencies, surely affect the "meaning" of colors for those with the deficiencies.

There are other weird gaps in the book's scholarship as well. There are brief discussions of opinion polls that try to determine what our "favorite color" is, but there is no discussion of Komar and Melamed's famous "Most Wanted" survey of world aesthetic tastes, which concluded that blue was the favorite color of majorities in most countries.

The book offers evidence that black, white and red were the primary color categories of the ancient world, with blue not figuring in treatises on color, even when describing the colors of the rainbow. That interestingly confirms the famous claims by anthropologists Berlin & Kay (and Kay & McDaniel) that there is a specific pattern to the development of color vocabulary whereby "blue" is always a later basic color term than "black", "white" and "red". But there is no mention of Kay & Berlin's work in relation to the interesting historical fact about ancient color terms.

There is also a near-total focus on European, and in the post-medieval period, French, attitudes and practices with regard to color (the author is French). During an extended discussion of the significance of different colors during the French Revolution, and in particular the tricolor, the author says:

"It is easy to imagine that if the British flag had not been red, white, and blue, that of the American Revolution would not have been either, and therefore neither the French Revolution, nor the Empire or Republic that followed, would have used these colors. To understand the American and French flags, then, WE MUST GO BACK TO THE ORIGINS OF THE BRITISH FLAG, which was already red, white, and blue in the early seventeenth century..." (p.148).

But then the author only spends TWO sentences explaining the origins of the British flag, before returning to an extended discussion of the color of cockades in the French Revolution. I thought the British flag was important, because the author just told me it was!

[Özlem Güzelharcan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heyecanlı ve ilginç başlayan, ortalarında biraz sıkıcı sularda yüzen, sonlara doğru yine baştaki temposunu yakalayan bir okuma.

Mavi'yi neredeyse görmediği düşünülen Romalılar ve Antik Yunanlılar'dan blue jean'e, Fransız bayrağına, dini motiflerden gök kuşağına, modaya, resim sanatına, edebiyata, hüzne (still got the blues!) ve değişen toplumsal yargılara dair bilgilendirici, düşündürücü ve eğlendirici bir çalışma.

[Inna Zolotar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Легка, пізнавальна книга про феномен синього кольору. Цікаво описана еволюція розуміння та ієрархії кольору, також сподобалось про технології фарбування, війни конкурентів, що використовували вайду чи індіго, а також "червоний" та "синій" фундамент багатьох туристичних "мекк" Західної Європи. Але мені забракло глибини та деталей у дослідженні, плюс заважала яскраво виражена західно-європоцентричність. Хороша книга для розширення кругозору. Приємних вражень!

[Olga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Почала рік з тотального задоволення від інтелектуальної стимуляції, яку надає своїм текстом Мішель Пастуро. Надзвичайно тішусь, що зʼявився нарешті український переклад його досліджень кольору. Синій - той колір, про який я найменше знаю, окрім (часто очевидної) загальної інформації про його символічну роль у політиці та політичних партіях. Це дослідження дало глибше розуміння про витоки та еволюцію сприйняття синього, про вплив економіки й торгівлі на поширення кольору, його протиставлення більш «розкішному» червоному та інші часто неочевидні деталі з історії кольору. З нетерпінням чекаю від «Лабораторії» видання решти досліджень пана Пастуро про кольори. 🦋

[Jacques le fataliste et son maître · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accurata e stimolante analisi della percezione, dell’uso, della fortuna dei colori in Europa, dall’epoca dei romani alla seconda metà del Novecento. Il protagonista è il blu, ma dato che questo colore ha dovuto “farsi spazio”, a partire dal XII secolo, nell’ambito di un sistema culturale dominato dalla triade bianco, nero, rosso e in cui non gli era accordata grande importanza, la riflessione dell’autore prende necessariamente in considerazione anche gli altri colori, i loro significati sociali, il loro uso nell’abbigliamento, la loro diffusione.
Strabiliante nel metodo di Pastoureau è la capacità dello storico di passare dallo studio dei metodi di tintura alle dispute teologiche sulla luce, dall’analisi della moda alla fortuna dei colori nella pittura e così via, senza mai inseguire conclusioni assolute e anacronistiche: non si troverà in questo libro una simbologia dei colori valida per ogni popolo e ogni tempo, perché il colore è un’entità sociale, culturale, storica.
Affascina, anzi, il contrasto fra il dato fisico immutabile nel tempo (per esempio, l’arcobaleno che si stendeva nei cieli dell’anno Mille era ovviamente frutto dello stesso fenomeno fisico che lo genera oggi) e la varietà della percezione (e nominazione) di questo dato (in tempi diversi colori diversi sono stati visti, individuati, nominati nell’arcobaleno).
Notevole anche la capacità dell’autore di isolare avvenimenti e situazioni particolarmente significative ai fini della sua argomentazione e insieme affascinanti quali storie che ci svelano altri mondi: dai tintori di panni rossi che nel XIII secolo chiedono ai maestri vetrai di rappresentare i diavoli in blu sulle vetrate delle chiese per screditare la moda del nuovo colore, alle ridipinture subite da una statua della Madonna a Liegi: nera nell’anno Mille, blu nel XIII secolo, dorata alla fine del XVII e infine bianca nello scorcio dell’Ottocento, in ossequio ai mutevoli orientamenti della riflessione teologica mariana. «Questa sovrapposizione di quattro colori successivi in un millennio di storia fa di questa fragile scultura un oggetto vivo, oltre che un eccezionale documento di storia pittorica e simbolica». Ci sarebbero poi da citare i contrasti fra i teologi come l’abate Suger, che esaltano il colore quale rappresentazione della luce divina e mezzo per rendere lode a Dio, e quelli come san Bernardo di Chiaravalle, che lo condannano in quanto materia, involucro, belletto, vanitas; il fatto che l’iride, lo spettro dei colori, per noi forma obbligata della loro rappresentazione, fosse del tutto estranea alla sensibilità medievale e si affermi come sapere comune e forma comune della percezione soltanto dopo gli studi di Newton; la nascita in Francia della simbologia politica del blu e del rosso durante la Rivoluzione ecc.
Il volume ci introduce in mondi lontani dal nostro, dominati da sensibilità diverse, mutevoli, in contrasto fra loro, e conduce a una più ampia esperienza dell’essere umano.
Del medesimo autore segnalo Medioevo simbolico:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96...
dove è presente una sezione dedicata alla storia culturale dei colori, e
Nero. Storia di un colore:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96...
“volume gemello” di questo.

[Chris]

The story of a color is, of course, the story of how humans perceive that color and, comparatively, other colors. It was fascinating to read about the lack of mention in early records of the color we know as blue. The color blue seemed to arise out of a growing human perception of color, of the color wheel, and of the development of dyeing techniques.
Superstitions, and belief systems played an important part in establishing a color hierarchy in fashion in the 13th century, when this book begins it's history. The influence of religion and politics continues with some effect to this day.
The story of dye discoveries, using woad in the earliest years of blue colorizing and then indigo as a brighter, more resilient dye, and also, who had access to the colorants is, again, a story of humanity and civilization. In the late 19th and early 20th century, while France was insistant on having blue uniforms for it's soldiers, England controlled most of the supply of indigo. The French government compromised and gave their troops blue coats but bright red trousers. The heavy human losses in French military campaigns into World War 1 have been blamed on their soldiers' visibility in the field.
This study of blue diverges weirdly into several pages on the history of the French flag (and a couple of it's competitors). (Blue, may I remind you, comprises only a third of the French flag.) True, the author is French, but as much time could have been spent on the British, the US, the Czech, the Russian, or any other tricolored flag.
I picked up this book because blue is my favorite color. The book concludes that blue is about half the world's favorite color, so I, or you, if you share this characteristic, shouldn’t feel so special.
I found the final sentences oddly philosophical, if not judgemental. After a discourse on how the color blue evolved in human perception from a warm color to a cold color, and how that change might have occurred with the growing use of blue to signify bodies of water on maps, rather than the green used in the earliest maps, the author concludes: "In the collective imagination and daily life, however, it took quite a while for water to become blue, and for blue to become cold. Cold like our contemporary Western societies, for which blue is at once the emblem, symbol, and favorite color."

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just realized I had never posted this. Unlikely as it seems, this coffee table book was a fascinating look at how blue came to be the most popular color among artists and in society, and taught me for the first time that there were sumptuary laws in various nations at various times designed to restrict the type and color of clothing commoners could wear so they didn't compete with the raiment of royalty. As I recall, one factoid was that the popularity of black and white for men's clothing, still epitomized in the tuxedo, came from sumptuary laws that restricted wealthy merchants to those colors.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book is full of pictures, it is very imformative. It discusses the history of color pigment, use and maeaning, and not only of the color blue. For example red was made from madder, a rusty red, and was the most common with yellow and black till the middle ages? Purple came from sea urchins and blue from lapis rocks.
Very interesting, and since its translated from the original French, I'd like to know just how Euro-centric it is.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pastoureau's other books were already on my "to-read" list, but after finishing this one they've all jumped up to the top. It is heavy on French history -- I would have happily traded several pages about the French flag for more on other topics -- but overall it's a fascinating study, well-translated (so far as I can tell) and beautifully illustrated.

[Elif · Rating 3 out of 5]

For all the blue lovers out there!

English: https://elifthereader.com/books/blue-...
Türkçe: https://kitaplikkedisi.com/kitaplar/m...

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating analysis of the changing symbolic and social role of the color blue over time. Very informative.

[Raphaël]

Bonne lecture, très agréable, sujet original... on souhaiterait que certains aspects de cette histoire du Bleu soient un peu plus développés (notamment toute la partie sur l'Antiquité).