Ultramarine Blue Tile

Ultramarine is a shade of blue. Ultramarine is a deep blue colour and a pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ultramarinus, literally "beyond the sea," because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afghanistan by Italian traders during the 14th and 15th century. Ultramarine was the finest and most expensive blue used by Renaissance painters. It was often used for the robes of the Virgin Mary, and symbolised holiness and humility. It remained an extremely expensive pigment until a synthetic ultramarine was invented in 1826.