Lapis Lazuli Pigment

The use of natural Lapis Lazuli pigment has been well documented throughout history: The first noted use of the stone as a pigment can be seen in sixth and seventh century AD cave paintings in Afghanistan temples where the stone was most predominantly mined.
Lapis Lazuli ultramarine pigment has also been found in some Chinese paintings dating from the tenth and eleventh centuries AD and in a few Indian murals dating from the eleventh, twelfth and seventeenth centuries AD. Italian painters of the fourteenth through the fifteenth centuries AD used the brilliant ultramarine color to complement their vermilion and gold illuminated manuscripts and panel paintings.

Painters of the Renaissance had a strong affinity for the ultramarine pigment due to its vivid rich consistency. Because of the costly manner by which the pigment was extracted from stone lapis lazuli stone, natural ultramarine blue has been one of the most costly and precious of the artist materials, equaling and sometimes exceeding the price of gold. Artists used the pigment quite sparingly reserving its use for the robes of the Virgin Mary and Christ child.

Until now, natural ultramarine pigment was extremely difficult to buy. Most painters wishing to obtain it had to purchase the stone from a gem dealer and extract the pigment themselves.

Recent refining advancements, coupled with our ability to obtain top quality stones, has made it possible to offer this extremely rare natural product at incredible affordable prices. The Lapis Lazuli chips used to obtain the pigment are hand selected, crushed, grinded and cleaned to separate the other minerals present on natural Lapis Lazuli stone, in order to concentrate only the Lazurite (Na, Ca)8(Al, Si)12(O)24(S) FeS-CaCO3 in pure crystals under 70 microns.

The resulting natural Lapis lazuli pigment is, therefore, a lazurite concentrate that differentiates itself from its synthetic counterpart by the vibrancy of the blue that it produces. The large size of the lazurite crystals, with irregular and angular shape, react to light like finely faceted small diamonds or prism, thereby producing an ever-changing display of rich vibrant blues. This creates a three dimensional gem-like effect which is not attainable with the very small, round and uniformly shaped particles of the synthetic ultramarine blue pigment. In addition, this pigment is not affected by the UV rays. Finally, artists do not have to compromise the exquisite vibrancy of genuine Lapis Lazuli pigment!

Natural Lapis Lazuli Pigment is suitable for use in paints, lacquers, inks and cosmetics. It is successfully being used in t he coating of metallic and other surfaces.

We offer three different quality Lapis Lazuli pigments: Standard grade (40-45% Lazurite content), Superior grade (55-60% Lazurite content) and Premium grade (80-85% Lazurite content). Each type is sold by the Kilogram (2.2 Pounds) or in 100 grams sampler bottles.