The colour Vermilion
Despite their reputation, I have a soft spot for toadstools, in particular the Fly Agaric. A vibrant vermilion, adorned with creamy speckles, festooned with lace ruffles and a mild but magical menace, they are the best ambassador for the orange-red family.
This colour is special as it is also my heritage. My family comes from an area in Australia that is populated with 19th century, red-brick buildings. At sunrise and sunset, an other-worldly glow emanates from the walls, producing a vermilion so warm, it lights up your soul. And yet, for such a beautiful colour, it carries a lethal past.
Vermilion was originally made from cinnabar, an elemental ore from which mercury was extracted. Its toxicity was recognised early on by the ancient Romans and the Chinese, and so they began to synthesise a slightly less potent pigment by mixing mercury and sulphur over heat. However, ground cinnabar continued to be highly prized as it produced the finest colours, and was still used in art up until the 20th century when it was replaced with synthetic pigments such as cadmium red.
COLOUR FACTS: VERMILION
Vermilion winds its way back through art and history to a Neolithic painting in Turkey, depicting humans, a deer and an auroch, dating somewhere between 8000-7000BCE.
Cinnabar is a mineral that forms along the veins in rocks near hot springs and in areas where there has been volcanic activity.
The Romans suffered for beauty. With full knowledge of the toxic properties of lead and vermilion, they were highly prized cosmetics, used as foundation and rouge.
As vermilion was prohibitively expensive, during the middle ages it was reserved for only the most special works of illumination, potentially saving the lives of many monks!