Viridian

History

Viridian pigment was first prepared in 1838 in Paris by Parisian color chemist and painter Pannetier alongside his assistant Binet as a hydrated form of chromium oxide. The preparation process was demanding, expensive, and shrouded in secrecy. The French chemist C. E. Guignet developed and patented a cheaper manufacturing method in 1859 that enabled larger distribution and use of the pigment. This method involved calcining a combination of boric acid and potassium bichromate, then washing the material.

Winsor and Newton's catalogue listed the pigment as early as 1849. It was used as early as 1840 in a work by J. M. W. Turner. Viridian was in prominent use by the mid-nineteenth century, but was less popular than three to four times more affordable alternatives including emerald and chrome greens.

Visual characteristics

Viridian is a bright shade of spring green, which places the color between green and teal on the color wheel, or, in paint, a tertiary blue–green color. Viridian is dark in value, has medium saturation, and is transparent.

Variations of viridian

Paolo Veronese green

Paolo Veronese green is the color that is called verde veronés in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Paolo Veronese green was a color formulated and used by the noted 16th-century Venetian artist Paolo Veronese.

Paolo Veronese green began to be used as a color name in English sometime in the 1800s (exact year uncertain).

Another name for this color is transparent oxide of chromium.

Viridian green

At right is displayed the color viridian green.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-5126 TPX—Viridian Green.

Generic viridian

Generic viridian is the color that is called Viridian inspecifico in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Spanish viridian

Spanish viridian is the color that is called Viridian specifico in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Permanence

Viridian is considered durable and permanent as an artist's pigment. Viridian is unaffected by temperatures up to 260 °C (500 °F), but it is unsuitable for use in ceramic glazes. Viridian is compatible with all pigments in all media, and has high oil absorption. Pure pigment formulations of viridian are hard and may separate in tubes, but adding barium sulfate in small quantities enables easy grinding and dispersion.

Notable occurrences

Although viridian is not a frequent color name in English, it is used in a number of cultural references, probably because it is derived from viridis, the Latin word for green, so using the word viridian sounds more elegant than simply referring to the Old English word green.

Fine art painting

• Fritz Bamberger, Afterglow in the Sierra Nevada, 1863.
• Claude Monet, Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877, oil on canvas includes traces of viridian in the grassy area.
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Flowers, 1919.[[File:Fritz_Bamberger_-Ansicht_der_Sierra_Nevada-11627-Bavarian_State_Painting_Collections.jpg|thumb|Fritz Bamberger - Ansicht der Sierra Nevada, 1863. Bavarian State Painting Collections.]][[File:Claude Monet - Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Claude Monet - Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877, oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.]][[File:Renoir-_Flowers,_1915-1919,_DMA_1957.64.jpg|thumb|Renoir - Flowers, 1919.]] Automobiles
• "Viridian Joule" was the winning color name in Chevrolet's Volt Paint-Color Naming Contest.

Broadcasting

• Viridian was the signature color of BBC Two's identity from 1991–2001.

Environmental design

• The viridian design movement is a popular design movement based on a bright green environmentalism philosophy.

References

References

1. The color displayed in the color box above matches the color called ''viridian'' in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill; the color ''viridian'' is displayed on page 79, Plate 28, Color Sample K11.
2. Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 206; Color Sample of Viridian: Page 93 Plate 79 Color Sample K11
3. Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 18 See: "Table--Polyglot Table of Principle Color Names" Pages 18-19
4. Newman, Richard. (1997). "Artists' pigments : a handbook of their history and characteristics". National Gallery of Art.
5. Eastaugh, Nicholas. (2004). "The pigment compendium : a dictionary of historical pigments". Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
6. (2016). "Analytical characterization of academic nude paintings by José Veloso Salgado". Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy.
7. Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). ''Guía de coloraciones'' (Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). ''Guide to Colorations'') Madrid: H. Blume. {{ISBN. 84-89840-31-8
8. Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 201 (It is listed under ''Paul Veronese green'')
9. Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 142
10. Type the words "Viridian Green" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear.
11. [http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the words "Viridian Green" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear:]
12. "Viridian Joule" was the winning color name in Paint-Color Naming Contest [http://www.chevroletvoltage.com/index.php/volt-blog/18-volt/1585-viridian-joule-voted-winner-in-volt-paint-color-naming-contest.html]
13. Sterling, Bruce. (2001). "Viridian: The Manifesto of January 3, 2000".
14. Hughes, James. (2002). "Democratic Transhumanism 2.0".