Harvard Has A Library Dedicated To Protecting The Rarest Colors In The World

In a tucked-away corner of Harvard’s prestigious halls lies a vault that protects some of the rarest colors in the world, a collection envied by artists, scientists, and historians alike.

This isn’t your typical academic library filled with books and manuscripts; it’s a library of pigments – rare colors that tell the history of human exploration, art, and chemistry. Among its most prized contents are hues derived from extinct insects, ancient mummy wrappings, and precious metals nearly impossible to find today.

Harvard Art Museums’ Forbes Pigment Collection

Known formally as the Harvard Art Museums’ Forbes Pigment Collection, this unique archive holds over 2,500 individual rare colors sourced from all over the globe. The collection was started in the early 20th century by Edward Forbes, the founder of the Fogg Art Museum and a Harvard professor. Forbes began assembling these pigments with a mission to aid art conservation and understand the chemical composition of historic artworks. What started as an academic resource has transformed into a treasure trove of colors that chart humanity’s artistic past and scientific discoveries.

Colors Lost to Time

Walking through the Forbes Pigment Collection is like wandering through a gallery of stories that most people have never heard. The collection features only the rarest colors that are no longer made, like Mummy Brown, derived from the ground remains of ancient Egyptian mummies. During the Renaissance, artists prized this reddish-brown hue for its unique earthy qualities and its historical mystique. However, the use of Mummy Brown faded as artists learned the unsettling truth of its origin.

There’s also Tyrian Purple, a shade so rare it was once worth its weight in gold. This brilliant purple dye was harvested by the ancient Phoenicians from sea snails. Each snail yielded only a minuscule amount of pigment, making the dye exceedingly expensive and a symbol of royal wealth. Today, Tyrian Purple sits under glass in Harvard, a reminder of the painstaking processes and bold experimentation that colored the ancient world.

The Spectacle of Synesthesia: Insects and Minerals

Among the more peculiar entries are the pigments derived from insects, such as Cochineal, a brilliant red extracted from the crushed bodies of the cochineal insect, found in Central and South America. Cochineal became so important to the global economy that it was once considered as valuable as silver, coloring everything from Renaissance paintings to the red coats of British soldiers. This color maintains a striking vibrancy, adding drama to the collection’s display.

The pigments extend beyond organic sources to include rare earth elements and precious metals. Harvard’s collection holds samples of Ultramarine Blue, once made exclusively from the semi-precious lapis lazuli stone. This deep, celestial blue was so precious that it was often reserved for depicting sacred subjects in art. The collection also boasts pigments made from substances like lead and mercury, including the brilliantly toxic Vermilion and Lead White, which fell out of use due to their hazardous properties.

A Laboratory for the World’s Rarest Colors

While beautiful, the rare colors at Harvard are more than mere displays; they are active tools in the field of art conservation. Harvard’s scientists and art conservators frequently use the pigments as references to analyze, date, and restore works of art. Each pigment’s unique chemical signature can provide clues about an artwork’s age, origin, and sometimes even the artist’s workshop. For example, by comparing the pigments in a painting to samples from the collection, scientists can determine if a work uses materials typical of a particular time and place.

These pigments are invaluable in uncovering forgeries and understanding an artist’s original intent. Conservators can restore faded masterpieces to their former glory, knowing exactly what colors the artists would have seen when they first applied their brush strokes.

Merging Art and Science

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Forbes Pigment Collection is the way it bridges the gap between art and science. It is a rare confluence where historians, chemists, and artists work together to understand the past. The collection serves as a vital reference for historians and archaeologists looking to authenticate artifacts and reconstruct ancient techniques. Chemists study the stability and degradation of these pigments over time, providing insight into how art can best be preserved for future generations.

With the rise of technology, researchers now use tools like Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence to analyze pigments at a molecular level. This allows them to identify even trace amounts of a pigment and understand its composition without damaging a single grain. For Harvard and its researchers, these advancements mean that ancient colors remain safely encapsulated, preserving the physical and historical essence of each pigment.

From Obscurity to the Digital Realm

Harvard is bringing the Forbes Pigment Collection to a wider audience through digitization. Online viewers can explore detailed, high-resolution images and in-depth descriptions of each pigment, sparking curiosity in people worldwide. The collection, though rarely seen by the public in person, has gained a cult following online. Art enthusiasts, chemistry buffs, and curious minds can now learn about the history of colors like Scheele’s Green, a pigment once popular in the 18th century that turned out to be laced with toxic arsenic, or Mars Red, the result of modern synthetic pigment production.

The Colorful Legacy

The colors in Harvard’s Forbes Pigment Collection reflect our shared human history. They tell stories of beauty, conquest, ingenuity, and curiosity. Each vial of pigment represents the labor of scientists, the passion of artists, and the relentless pursuit of something truly original. From the earthy browns of mummified remains to the vibrant reds of cochineal insects, these pigments are a reminder of the lengths we have gone to create beauty in a world rich with natural wonders.

In a time where most colors are created synthetically, the Forbes Pigment Collection stands as a monument to the unique, sometimes dangerous, but always fascinating history of rarest colors.