{"id":318,"date":"2026-01-09T13:38:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/09\/gold-from-newtons-apple-tree-traces-natural-pigment-recipes-from-the-ancient-world-to-today\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:38:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:38:38","slug":"gold-from-newtons-apple-tree-traces-natural-pigment-recipes-from-the-ancient-world-to-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/09\/gold-from-newtons-apple-tree-traces-natural-pigment-recipes-from-the-ancient-world-to-today\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Gold from Newton\u2019s Apple Tree\u2019 Traces Natural Pigment Recipes from the Ancient World to Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"‘Gold <\/p>\n

Humans have been creating pigments for thousands of years, foraging for local materials that could be ground or extracted to create colors. The 17,000-year-old cave art in Lascaux<\/a>, France, for example, is a mindbogglingly early example of human ingenuity when it comes to processing elements of nature, such as minerals, ochres<\/a>, and shells, to create different hues.<\/p>\n

As time went on, people continued to experiment and develop new dyes and paints, some of which were poisonous<\/a>. Minerals sometimes contain toxic elements, so red often contained lead, cinnabar had mercury, and orpiment arsenic. Aristocratic Romans even used a face-lightening compound containing lead, and their blush tended to feature crushed mulberries or red vermillion<\/a>, a.k.a. powdered cinnabar.<\/p>\n

\"a
Elephant ears (Bergenia crassifolia). Hand-colored etching from Pierre-Joseph Buc\u2019hoz\u2019s ‘Collection Pr\u00e9cieuse et Enlumin\u00e9e des Fleurs les Plus Belles et les Plus Curieuses’ (Precious and Illuminated Collection of the Most Beautiful and Curious Flowers; 1776). Images courtesy of Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the medieval period, plants also became more valuable as a means of producing pigments, especially as trade routes expanded and botanicals from different parts of the world could be obtained or seeded in gardens. The colors we see in illuminated manuscripts and associate with dyed fabrics<\/a> became increasingly desirable during this era.<\/p>\n

Blue and purple can be extracted from woad, ivy, and Portuguese laurel, while golden hues can be made from cornflower, crocus, myrrh, turmeric, and more. In the forthcoming Gold from Newton’s Apple Tree<\/em>: Historical Recipes for Natural Inks, Paints, and Dyes<\/em><\/a>, author Nabil Ali celebrates this long legacy of botanical pigments and the craft traditions that used them, with an emphasis on the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n

Ali compiles recipes from as far back as the 3rd century B.C.E. to as recently as the last couple of decades, reproducing a wide range of scientific and artistic illustrations of a wide range of specimens from manuscripts and encyclopedic volumes. Published by Princeton University Press, Gold from Newton’s Apple Tree<\/em> takes its title from an ink recipe made from using bark extracted from a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton\u2019s apple tree, in which the brown ingredients transform into a rich yellow-gold. <\/p>\n

The book is slated for release in April, and you can pre-order your copy in the Colossal Shop<\/a>. You might also enjoy The Mushroom Color Atlas<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"a
Common or European ivy (Hedera helix, Hedera arborea). Hand-colored woodblock print by Wolfgang Meyerpick after an illustration by Giorgio Liberale, from Pietro Andrea Mattioli’s ‘Discorsi di P.A. Matthioli ne i sei libri della Materia Medicinale di Pedacio Dioscoride Anazarbeo’ (Commentary on the Materia Medica of Dioscorides) (Vincenzo Valgrisi, Venice, 1568)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Purple-flowered dwarf elder tree (Sambucus ebulus)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Ivy. Illustration from ‘Bartholomaei Mini de Senis Tractatus de Herbis’ (c.1300), collection of the British Library, London. Image courtesy of Bridgeman Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Marsh marigold (Caltha vulgaris). Image from Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Mountain pansy (Viola lutea). Handcolored lithograph by Stroobant from Louis van Houtte and Charles Memaire\u2019s ‘Flores des Serres et des Jardins de l\u2019Europe’ (Flowers of the Hothouses and Gardens of Europe) (1851). Image courtesy of Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Black walnut. K\u00f6hler’s ‘Medizinal Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erl\u00e4uterndem Texte’ (Medicinal plants in realistic illustrations with brief explanatory texts). Image from Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Anselmus Bo\u00ebtius de Boodt, Purple iris (Iris germanica) (1596-1610)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Caelidonia. Image from Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Johann Gottlieb Mann, Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Image from Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the University of New Orleans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a<\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article ‘Gold from Newton’s Apple Tree’ Traces Natural Pigment Recipes from the Ancient World to Today<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nabil Ali celebrates the long legacy of botanical pigments and the craft traditions that used them.
\nDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kudoscript.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}