Violet (color)

Violet is the color of light at the short wavelength end of the visible spectrum. It is one of the seven colors that Isaac Newton identified when he studied the spectrum of visible light in 1672. Violet light has a wavelength between approximately 380 and 435 nanometers. The color gets its name from the Viola genus of flowers.

In the RGB color model used for computer and television screens, violet is made by mixing red and blue light, using more blue than red. In the older RYB color model used by painters, violet is created by mixing red and blue pigments and sits between blue and purple on the color wheel. For printing, the CMYK color model uses a mix of magenta and cyan pigments, with more magenta than cyan, to make violet.

Violet is often linked with purple. In science, violet is a spectral color, meaning it is the color of single wavelengths of light. Purple, however, is made by combining red and blue (or violet) light. In everyday language, people use both violet and purple to describe colors between blue and red in hue.

Throughout history, violet has been connected to royalty and importance. This comes from the time when Tyrian purple dye was very expensive. Roman emperors and later Byzantine emperors wore purple clothing. During the Middle Ages, violet was worn by bishops and university teachers and was often used in art for the robes of the Virgin Mary. In Chinese painting, violet represents harmony and balance in the universe. Some modern beliefs link violet with spiritual ideas and personal expression.

Etymology and definitions

The word violet comes from old languages, starting with the Latin word viola, which means the violet flower. People first started using "violet" to name a color in English around the year 1370.

Violet is very close to purple. In science, violet is a special color that comes from a single wavelength of light, between about 380 and 435 nanometers. Purple, however, is made when red, blue, and violet lights mix together. In everyday language, people use both violet and purple for colors that are somewhere between blue and red. Traditionally, violet is used for colors closer to blue, while purple is used for colors closer to red. On the color wheel, both violet and purple sit between red and blue, with violet being nearer to blue.

In science

Optics

Violet is at one end of the spectrum of visible light, between indigo light, which has a longer wavelength, and ultraviolet light, which has a shorter wavelength and is not visible to humans. Violet wavelengths are between approximately 380 and 435 nanometers.

Chemistry – pigments and dyes

The earliest violet pigments used by humans, found in prehistoric cave paintings, were made from the minerals manganese and hematite. Manganese is still used today by the Aranda people, a group of indigenous Australians, as a traditional pigment for coloring the skin during rituals. It is also used by the Hopi Indians of Arizona to color ritual objects.

The most famous violet-purple dye in the ancient world was Tyrian purple, made from a type of sea snail called the murex, found around the Mediterranean.

In western Polynesia, residents of the islands made a violet dye similar to Tyrian purple from the sea urchin. In Central America, the inhabitants made a dye from a different sea snail, the purpura, found on the coasts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The Mayans used this color to dye fabric for religious ceremonies, and the Aztecs used it for paintings of ideograms, where it symbolized royalty.

During the Middle Ages, most artists made purple or violet on their paintings by combining red and blue pigments; usually blue azurite or lapis-lazuli with red ochre, cinnabar or minium. They also combined lake colors by mixing dye with powder; woad or indigo dye for blue and cochineal dye for red.

Orcein, or purple moss, was another common violet dye. It was known to the ancient Greeks and Hebrews, was made from a Mediterranean lichen called archil or dyer's moss (Roccella tinctoria), combined with an ammoniac, usually urine.

In the 18th century, chemists in England, France and Germany began to create the first synthetic dyes. Two synthetic purple dyes were invented at about the same time. Cudbear is a dye extracted from orchil lichens that can be used to dye wool and silk.

French purple was developed in France at about the same time.

Cobalt violet is a synthetic pigment that was invented in the second half of the 19th century, and is made by a similar process as cobalt blue, cerulean blue and cobalt green. It is the violet pigment most commonly used today by artists, along with manganese violet.

Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was the first synthetic organic chemical dye, discovered serendipitously during an attempt to make quinine in 1856.

In the 1950s, a new family of violet synthetic organic pigments called quinacridones came onto the market. The colors in the group range from deep red to violet in color, and have the molecular formula C₂₀H₁₂N₂O₂. They have strong resistance to sunlight and washing, and are used in oil paints, watercolors and acrylics, as well as in automobile coatings and other industrial coatings.

In [amethyst](/wiki/Amethyst), the violet color arises from an impurity of iron in the quartz.

Chemical structure of [pigment violet 29](/wiki/Pigment_Violet_29). Violet pigments typically have several rings.

Manganese violet, a popular inorganic pigment.

Zoology

The [marine hatchetfish](/wiki/Marine_hatchetfish) (here eating a small crustacean) lives in extreme depths.

The [purple sea urchin](/wiki/Strongylocentrotus_purpuratus).

The violet carpenter bee ([Xylocopa violacea](/wiki/Xylocopa_violacea)) is one of the largest bees in [Europe](/wiki/Europe).

The [violet-backed starling](/wiki/Violet-backed_starling) is found in [Sub-Saharan Africa](/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa).

The [violet sabrewing](/wiki/Violet_sabrewing) is found in [Central America](/wiki/Central_America).

The [imperial amazon](/wiki/Imperial_amazon) parrot is featured on the national flag of [Dominica](/wiki/Dominica), making it the only national flag in the world with a violet color.

Botany

• .jpg)

  Lobelia

[Crocus](/wiki/Crocus) flowers.

[Lilac](/wiki/Lilac) flowers

[Pansy](/wiki/Pansy) flowers.

[Sweet violet](/wiki/Sweet_Violet) flowers.

The [iris](/wiki/Iris_\(plant\)) flower takes its name from the [Greek](/wiki/Greek_language) word for [rainbow](/wiki/Rainbow).

[Lavender](/wiki/Lavender) fields in the [Vaucluse](/wiki/Vaucluse), in [Provence](/wiki/Provence), France

• _(2).jpg)

  Wisteria blooms are a light violet color.

An [eggplant](/wiki/Eggplant).

In history and art

Prehistory and antiquity

Violet is one of the oldest colors used by humans. Traces of very dark violet, made by grinding the mineral manganese, mixed with water or animal fat, are found in prehistoric cave art in Pech Merle, in France, dating back about 25,000 years. It was also used in the cave of Altamira and Lascaux. It was sometimes used as an alternative to black charcoal. Sticks of manganese have been found at sites occupied by Neanderthals in France and Israel. It may have been used to color the body and to decorate animal skins.

Berries of the genus rubus, such as blackberries, were a common source of dyes in ancient times. The ancient Egyptians made a kind of violet dye by combining the juice of the mulberry with crushed green grapes. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder reported that the Gauls used a violet dye made from bilberry to color the clothing of slaves. These dyes made a satisfactory purple, but faded quickly in sunlight and when washed.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

Violet and purple were important colors for emperors and princes of the church during the long rule of the Byzantine Empire.

Violet was worn by professors at many of Europe's new universities. Their robes were modeled after those of the clergy, and they often wore square violet caps and violet robes, or black robes with violet trim.

Violet also had a big role in religious paintings of the Renaissance. Angels and the Virgin Mary were often shown wearing violet robes. The 15th-century Florentine painter Cennino Cennini advised artists how to mix violet colors.

The Wilton Diptych (1395), painted for King Richard II.

A violet-clad angel from the Resurrection of Christ by Raphael (1483–1520).

18th and 19th centuries

In the 18th century, purple was a color worn by royalty, aristocrats and other wealthy people. Good-quality purple fabric was too expensive for ordinary people.

The first cobalt violet, a red-violet color, was highly toxic. It was later replaced by less toxic cobalt compounds. Cobalt violet became available in the second half of the 19th century, giving artists more purple colors to choose from. It was used by Paul Signac, Claude Monet and Georges Seurat.

In the 1860s, violet colors became very popular with painters. Vincent van Gogh used violet in many of his paintings, often combining it with its complementary color, yellow. In a letter about his painting of his bedroom in Arles (1888), he described how he used violet and other colors to create a feeling of rest.

In 1856, a young British chemist named William Henry Perkin was trying to make a medicine. Instead, he made a deep purple dye called mauveine, or simply mauve, named after the mallow flower. This dye became very fashionable among the nobility and upper classes in Europe, especially after Queen Victoria wore a gown dyed with mauveine. Before this, only the very rich could afford mauve. Perkin built a factory to make the dye, so almost anyone could wear mauve. It was the first of many modern industrial dyes that changed the chemical industry and fashion.

Charles de Bourbon, the future King Carlos III of Spain (1725).

In England, pre-Raphaelite painters like Arthur Hughes loved purple and violet. This is April Love (1856).

Nocturne: Trafalgar Square Chelsea Snow (1876) by James McNeill Whistler, used violet to create a wintery mood.

The Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh (1889), Museum of Modern Art.

In culture

In a European survey, three percent of people said violet was their favorite color. It came after blue, green, red, black, and yellow, and was tied with orange. Ten percent said it was their least favorite color, with brown, pink, and gray being even less popular.

Violet has been linked to royalty and luxury because it was once the color of Roman emperors. It is often used in luxury items like watches and jewelry, as it helps gold look its best. In some religions, violet is a special color worn by important leaders during certain times of the year. It is also used in spiritual practices and by some political groups to represent ideas like liberty and dignity.