Caput mortuum (pigment)

This article is about a purple pigment. For the brown pigment, see Mummy brown.

Caput mortuum (Latin for 'dead head', and variously spelled caput mortum or caput mortem), also known as cardinal purple, is the name given to a purple variety of haematite iron oxide pigment, used in oil paints and paper dyes. Due to the cultural significance of its deep purple colour, it was very popular for painting the robes of religious figures and important personages (e.g. art patrons), with its popularity peaking in the 18th and 19th centuries.^[1][2]

Ferric oxide

The name for this pigment may have come from the alchemical usage, since iron oxide (rust) is the useless residue (caput mortuum) of oxidization. It was originally a byproduct of sulfuric acid manufacture during the 17th and 18th centuries, and was possibly an early form of the copperas process used for the manufacture of Venetian red and copperas red.^[3][4]

References

1. "Caput Mortuum, An Earthy Brown Made of Bodies (or Minerals!)". The Awl. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
2. Oliveira, Luiz F. C. de; Edwards, Howell G. M.; Frost, Ray L.; Kloprogge, J. Theo; Middleton, Paul S. (2002-04-04). "Caput mortuum: spectroscopic and structural studies of an ancient pigment". Analyst. 127 (4): 536–541. Bibcode:2002Ana...127..536D. doi:10.1039/B111473P. ISSN 1364-5528. PMID 12022655.
3. Harley, R.D. (2001). Artists' Pigments: c. 1600-1836. JG Publishing : Archetype Publications. ISBN 1-873132-91-3.
4. Castagnotto, Elena; Locardi, Federico; Slimani, Sawssen; Peddis, Davide; Gaggero, Laura; Ferretti, Maurizio (2021-02-01). "Characterization of the Caput Mortuum purple hematite pigment and synthesis of a modern analogue". Dyes and Pigments. 185: 108881. doi:10.1016/j.dyepig.2020.108881. ISSN 0143-7208. S2CID 225140429.