Famous since antiquity, Lapis Lazuli has been
discovered in some of the most magnificent archaeological sites, such as the
Tomb of Tutankhamun and the Royal Treasures of Ur. Grounded into powder
and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments,
it was exported to Europe from the end of the Middle Ages and was famously used
by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, including
Titian and Vermeer, who usually saved the colour for the clothes of the central
figure, which was often the Virgin Mary.
It's probably a little known fact that the main
source of this deep blue metamorphic rock, a semi-precious stone, are about 140
cave-like mines in Badakhshan, which have been mined for over 6000 years and
are still the world's finest source of lapis lazuli. It has been highly
prized since antiquity for its intensity of colour. Lapis is actually almost as
rare as diamonds and historically gold and lapis had the same value and was
often seen as a currency.
Lapis has the advantage that it takes
an excellent polish and can be made into jewellery, boxes, mosaics or just be
displayed as freeforms, which are becoming rarer every year.
Another advantage of lapis is that it is exceptional durable and can
resist both extreme heat and cold, which allows for it to be displayed outside.
The lapis mountain which neighbours onto an emerald mountain, was
traditionally in the centre of the Silk Route network of trade routes which
connected the East to the West. Although the main trade was silk, other goods
traded included lapis as part of the cultural trade delivered from the East to
Europe.
Minerals
