Through his innovative use of color and light, Caravaggio transformed the landscape of 17th-century painting. His legacy, marked by a distinctive palette and a profound understanding of human emotion, continues to inspire and captivate audiences, making him a pivotal figure in the history of Western art.
Although "chiaroscuro" was practiced long before the 17th century, Caravaggio made the technique definitive, darkening the shadows and transfixing the subject in a blinding shaft of light. He achieved this effect with a limited palette typical of 17th-century painters: iron oxide earth colors, a few mineral pigments, carbon or bone black, and verdigris. Earth pigments predominated, and brighter colors were always veiled.
Caravaggio's palette was a testament to his pioneering approach, comprising a relatively limited yet highly impactful range of colors. Central to his palette were earth tones, which were the bedrock of the Baroque school's inclination towards realism and emotional depth.
Colors of Caravaggio's Palette (Equivalent Color in Rublev Colours Artists Oil Paint):
Lead White (Lead White #1 Oil Paint)
Lead-Tin Yellow (Lead-Tin Yellow Oil Paint)
Yellow Ocher (Blue Ridge Yellow Ocher Oil Paint)
Verdigris (Viridian Oil Paint)
Vermilion (Cadmium Red Light Oil Paint)
Red Ocher (Venetian Red Oil Paint)
Umber (Cyprus Raw Umber Medium Oil Paint)
Bone Black (Bone Black Oil Paint)
Blue Ridge Yellow Ocher Artist Oil Paint
High-Quality, Professional Oil Paint 50 ml tube
A semi-opaque golden yellow, very fine-grained, and has a buttery consistency. Our yellow ocher is a single pigment color made of natural earths from ocher deposits in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.
Blue Ridge Yellow Ocher is obtained from mineral deposits in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Iron oxide hydroxide is the principal coloring agent in yellow ochers. This color is based on the natural mineral goethite associated with varying proportions of other minerals such as clay, chalk, and quartz. The iron oxide in yellow ochers differs from other ochers in that it contains water. In other words, the iron to which they owe their color is iron oxide hydroxide.
Composition and Permanence
Blue Ridge Yellow Ocher
Color: Blue Ridge Yellow Ocher
Binder: Linseed oil
Additive(s): None
Pigment Information
Pigment: Yellow Ocher
Pigment Classification: Natural inorganic
Colour Index: Pigment Yellow 43 (77492)
Chemical Name: Iron oxide hydroxide
Chemical Formula: ?-FeOOH
CAS No. 1310-14-1
20344-49-1
20344-49-4
51274-00-1
Properties
Code: 303
Series: 1
Opacity: Semi-Opaque
Tinting Strength: Medium
Drying Rate: Medium
ASTM Lightfastness: I
Permanence: A - Permanent Safety Information: No acute or known chronic health hazards are associated with this product's anticipated use (most chemicals are not thoroughly tested for chronic toxicity). Protect yourself against potentially unknown chronic hazards of this and other chemical products by keeping them out of your body. Do this by avoiding ingestion, excessive skin contact, and inhaling spraying mists, sanding dust, and vapors from heating. Conforms to ASTM D-4236
Notes
Some separation of pigment and oil may occur in Rublev Colours Artist Oils and is a natural process when no wax or stabilizers are added to paint to prevent this from occurring.
All images of color swatches on this website are only approximations of the actual color of the oil paint. We have carefully matched the color in these pictures on calibrated color monitors to the actual color. However, because of the wide variance in color monitors, the results may vary.
Color Swatch Note: The color swatch was created with a thick application (left side) of color and a tint (right side) made with equal parts of color and titanium white and applied on acrylic primed cotton canvas.
Drawdown Note: The image of the "drawdown" contains a pre-mixed paint film of 6 mils (0.006 inches) thickness applied to a standard test card to examine color consistency, opacity, and other qualities. The drawdowns show the full-color strength (mass tone) on the left and mixed in a 1:2 ratio with titanium white on the right. The bottom area of the drawdowns is scraped to show undertones.