Viridian Explained

Viridian
Hex:	40826D
Source:	Maerz and Paul^[1]
Isccname:	Moderate green

Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed of a majority of green, followed by blue. The first recorded use of viridian as a color name in English was in the 1860s.^[2] Viridian takes its name from the Latin viridis, meaning "green".^[3] The pigment was first prepared in mid-19th-century Paris and remains available from several US manufacturers as prepared artists' colors in all media.^[4]

History

Viridian pigment was first prepared in 1838 in Paris by Parisian color chemist and painter Pannetier alongside his assistant Binet as a hydrated form of chromium oxide.^{[5] [6]} The preparation process was demanding, expensive, and shrouded in secrecy. The French chemist C. E. Guignet developed and patented a cheaper manufacturing method in 1859 that enabled larger distribution and use of the pigment. This method involved calcining a combination of boric acid and potassium bichromate, then washing the material.

Winsor and Newton's catalogue listed the pigment as early as 1849. It was used as early as 1840 in a work by J. M. W. Turner. Viridian was in prominent use by the mid-nineteenth century, but was less popular than three to four times more affordable alternatives including emerald and chrome greens.

Visual characteristics

Viridian is a bright shade of spring green, which places the color between green and teal on the color wheel, or, in paint, a tertiary blue–green color. Viridian is dark in value, has medium saturation, and is transparent .

Variations of viridian

Paolo Veronese green

Paolo Veronese Green
Hex:	009B7D
Source:	Gallego and Sanz^[7]
Isccname:	Strong green

Paolo Veronese green is the color that is called Verde Verones in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Paolo Veronese green was a color formulated and used by the noted 16th-century Venetian artist Paolo Veronese.

Paolo Veronese green began to be used as a color name in English sometime in the 1800s (exact year uncertain).^[8]

Another name for this color is transparent oxide of chromium.^[9]

Viridian green

Viridian Green
Hex:	009698
Source:	Pantone TPX^[10]
Isccname:	Moderate bluish green

At right is displayed the color viridian green.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-5126 TPX—Viridian Green.^[11]

Generic viridian

Generic Viridian
Hex:	007F66
Source:	Gallego and Sanz
Isccname:	Moderate green

Generic viridian is the color that is called Viridian inspecifico in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Spanish viridian

Spanish Viridian
Hex:	007F5C
Source:	Gallego and Sanz
Isccname:	Strong green

Spanish viridian is the color that is called Viridian specifico in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Permanence

Viridian is considered durable and permanent as an artist's pigment. Viridian is unaffected by temperatures up to 260 °C (500 °F), but it is unsuitable for use in ceramic glazes. Viridian is compatible with all pigments in all media, and has high oil absorption. Pure pigment formulations of viridian are hard and may separate in tubes, but adding barium sulfate in small quantities enables easy grinding and dispersion.

Notable occurrences

Although viridian is not a frequent color name in English, it is used in a number of cultural references, probably because it is derived from viridis, the Latin word for green, so using the word viridian sounds more elegant than simply referring to the Old English word green.

Fine art painting

• Fritz Bamberger, Afterglow in the Sierra Nevada, 1863.
• Claude Monet, Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877, oil on canvas includes traces of viridian in the grassy area.
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Flowers, 1919.

Automobiles

• "Viridian Joule" was the winning color name in Chevrolet's Volt Paint-Color Naming Contest.^[12]

Broadcasting

• Viridian was the signature color of BBC Two's identity from 1991–2001.

Television

• Viridian was the name of an Orion starship in

Environmental design

• The viridian design movement is a popular design movement based on a bright green environmentalism philosophy.^{[13] [14]}

Film

• Viridian is mentioned by Otho when discussing remodeling, in the 1988 film Beetlejuice.^[15]

Music

• "Viridian" is the seventh song on Between the Buried and Me's Colors.
• "Viridian (Interlude)" is the sixteenth track on Bethel Music's
• Viridian is the name of the ninth studio album by rock band Closterkeller whose releases are usually named after colors
• "Viridian" is the fourth song in Novo Amor's 2022 instrumental album Antarctican Dream Machine

Literature

• In the Space opera series Dread Empire's Fall, by American author Walter Jon Williams,^[16] the first mention of viridian is in the initial book of the series, The Praxis ^{[17] [18] [19]} for both the sky color of Shaa Empire capital world Zanshaa as well as color of the uniforms of their Fleet.

Video games

• In the Pokémon franchise, in the Kanto region, Viridian City is the first town one encounters after leaving Pallet Town via Route 1 and also home to the final gym.
• In VVVVVV, the player character is Captain Viridian, who is a light blue-green color. All characters have names referencing their color and starting with the letter V.
• In Knights of the Old Republic II the player character can find and use a viridian lightsaber crystal.
• In League of Legends the champion Kayle has a viridian costume that is green with black wings.
• In , there is a running joke about the color, started by the character Larry Butz.
• In the Steam game Aviary Attorney, the Viridian Killer is responsible for murders in France during the 1830s.

See also

• List of colors
• List of inorganic pigments
• Green pigments

Further reading

• Newman, R., Chromium Oxide Greens, in Artists’ Pigments, A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol 3: E.W. Fitzhugh (Ed.) Oxford University Press 1997, p. 273 – 286

External links

• Viridian, Pigments through the Ages, Webexhibits. Information about the color viridian, its history, making of, and its chemistry
• Viridian, Colourlex
• Viridian Red Noida, Viridian Red Noida

Notes and References

1. The color displayed in the color box above matches the color called viridian in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill; the color viridian is displayed on page 79, Plate 28, Color Sample K11.
2. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 206; Color Sample of Viridian: Page 93 Plate 79 Color Sample K11
3. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 18 See: "Table--Polyglot Table of Principle Color Names" Pages 18-19
4. Book: Newman, Richard . National Gallery of Art . 1997 . 0-89468-086-2 . Fitzhugh . Elisabeth West . 3 . 275–293 . Chromium Oxide Greens . 1224906722.
5. Book: Eastaugh, Nicholas . The pigment compendium : a dictionary of historical pigments . 2004 . Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann . 0-7506-5749-9 . 391 . 56444720.
6. Cardeira . A.M. . Longelin . S. . Costa . S. . Candeias . A. . Carvalho . M.L. . Manso . M. . 2016 . Analytical characterization of academic nude paintings by José Veloso Salgado . Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy . 153 . 379–385 . 10.1016/j.saa.2015.08.043 . 26344483 . 2016AcSpA.153..379C . 1386-1425.
7. Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). Guía de coloraciones (Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). Guide to Colorations) Madrid: H. Blume.
8. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 201 (It is listed under Paul Veronese green)
9. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 142
10. Type the words "Viridian Green" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear.
11. http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the words "Viridian Green" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear:
12. "Viridian Joule" was the winning color name in Paint-Color Naming Contest http://www.chevroletvoltage.com/index.php/volt-blog/18-volt/1585-viridian-joule-voted-winner-in-volt-paint-color-naming-contest.html
13. Sterling, Bruce. Viridian: The Manifesto of January 3, 2000. 2001. 2007-01-28. Bruce Sterling. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20070108042056/http://www.viridiandesign.org/manifesto.html. January 8, 2007.
14. Hughes, James. Democratic Transhumanism 2.0. 2002. 2007-01-26. James Hughes (sociologist). live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160818073142/http://changesurfer.com/Acad/DemocraticTranshumanism.htm. 2016-08-18.
15. Web site: "Beetlejuice," shooting script, by Michael McDowell; and Warren Skaaren . 2012-11-23 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130103131544/http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/beetlejuice_skaaren_final.html . 2013-01-03 .
16. Web site: Aliens, spaceships, and fun: Walter Jon Williams's Dread Empire's Fall. 2009-05-26. Tor.com. 2016-06-13.
17. Web site: Review - Dread Empire's Fall: The Praxis, by Walter Jon Williams. 2005-06-30. SF Signal. en-US. 2016-06-13.
18. Web site: The Praxis: Book One Of The Dread Empire's Fall by Walter Jon Williams. SFcrowsnest. 2016-06-13.
19. Web site: The SF Site Featured Review: The Praxis. SF Site. 2016-06-13.