Viridian
A clear, cool, safe green that replaced the poisonous ones. Its recipe was a secret until 1859.
- Made from
- Hydrated chromium(III) oxide
- Cheap process
- Guignet's patent, 1859
- Name
- Latin viridis, 'green'
Viridian is a hydrated chromium oxide, a deep, transparent blue-green, colored by the same element as chrome yellow. Its name is just Latin viridis, 'green'. The Paris color maker Pannetier and his assistant Binet first made it in 1838, but their process was slow, costly and secret. In 1859 the chemist C. E. Guignet patented a cheaper method, and viridian became a standard tube color.
Painters valued it because it was everything the arsenic greens were not: permanent, stable with other pigments and non-toxic. It's transparent, so it glazes beautifully and mixes clean. J. M. W. Turner was using it by 1840, Winsor & Newton listed it by 1849, and Monet used it widely in his Gare Saint-Lazare of 1877, now in London's National Gallery. Munch used it in The Scream (1893).
Viridian is strong and cool. Mixed with cobalt blue it gives sea greens; with yellow, fresh grass greens; with red, rich dark neutrals, since red and green are painter's-wheel complements.
The app's viridian is a dark, muted blue-green, darker than jade and less blue than teal. It was one of the bright modern pigments that let the Impressionists paint outdoor light.
Swatches
- Viridian · chromium oxide green
- Viridian · mass tone (approx.)
Colors
Sources
- Newman, R. (1997). Chromium oxide greens. In Artists' Pigments, vol. 3. National Gallery of Art, Washington.
- Bomford, D. et al. (1990). Art in the Making: Impressionism. National Gallery, London.
- Wikipedia, 'Viridian'.
- ColourLex, 'Claude Monet, The Gare Saint-Lazare' (National Gallery, London, NG6479): viridian used extensively.
Hex values are screen approximations. Every page lists its sources.