Lapis lazuli
Metamorphic rock containing lazurite, prized for its intense blue color / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Lapis lazuli?
Summarize this article for a 10 years old
Lapis lazuli (UK: /ˌlæpɪs ˈlæz(j)ʊli, ˈlæʒʊ-, -ˌlaɪ/; US: /ˈlæz(j)əli, ˈlæʒə-, -ˌlaɪ/), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines,[1] in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in modern northeast Afghanistan.[2] Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of Indus Valley civilisation.[3] Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (7570–1900 BC).[3][4][5] Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away as Mauritania.[6] It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC).[7]
| Metamorphic rock | |
| |
| Composition | |
|---|---|
| mixture of minerals with lazurite as the main constituent |
By the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. Ultramarine was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Masaccio, Perugino, Titian and Vermeer, and was often reserved for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary. Ultramarine has also been found in dental tartar of medieval nuns and scribes, perhaps as a result of licking their painting brushes while producing medieval texts and manuscripts.[8]