umber

The earliest documented uses of umber date from between 200 BC and 600 AD in the Ajanta Caves found in India. Ocher, a family of earth pigments which includes umber, has been identified in the caves of Altamira in Spain and the Lascaux Cave in France.{{Rp|page=251}} Some sources indicate that umber was not frequently used in medieval art because of its emphasis on bright and vivid colors.{{Cite book |last=Gettens |first=Rutherford J. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/518445 |title=Painting materials : a short encyclopaedia |date=1966 |publisher=Dover Publications |others=George L. Stout |isbn=0-486-21597-0 |location=New York |oclc=518445}}{{Rp|page=166}} Other sources indicate, however, that umber was used in the Middle Ages to create different shades of brown, most often seen for skin tones.{{Cite web |title=Medieval manuscripts blog: Science |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/science/page/5/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=blogs.bl.uk}} Umber's use in Europe increased in the late 15th century.{{Rp|page=168}} Umber became more popular during the Renaissance when its versatility, earthy appearance, availability, and inexpensiveness were recognized.{{Rp|page=251}}

File:Lascaux_II.jpg cave paintings, which are around 17,000 years old.|243x243px]]

Umber gained widespread popularity in Dutch landscape painting in the eighteenth century.{{Rp|page=378}} Artists recognized the value of umber's high stability, inertness, and drying abilities.{{Rp|pages=148–49}} It became a standard color within eighteenth-century palettes throughout Europe.{{Rp|page=378}} Umber's popularity grew during the Baroque period with the rise of the chiaroscuro style.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} Umber allowed painters to create an intense light and dark contrast.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} Underpainting was another popular technique for painting that used umber as a base color.{{Cite web |date=2020-02-02 |title=Underpainting advice |url=https://www.pototschnik.com/under-painting-advice/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=John Pototschnik Fine Art}} Umber was valuable in deploying this technique, creating a range of earth like tones with various layering of color.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Toward the end of the 19th century, the Impressionist movement started to use cheaper and more readily available synthetic dyes and reject natural pigments like umber to create mixed hues of brown.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} The Impressionists chose to make their own browns from mixtures of red, yellow, green, blue and other pigments, particularly the new synthetic pigments such as cobalt blue and emerald green that had just been introduced. In the 20th century, natural umber pigments began to be replaced by pigments made with synthetic iron oxide and manganese oxide.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Beginning in the 17th century, umber was increasingly criticized within the art community. British painter Edward Norgate, prominent with British royalty and aristocracy, called umber "a foul and greasy color."{{Cite book |last=Helwig |first=Kate |url= |title=Artists' pigments : a handbook of their history and characteristics |publisher=National Gallery of Art |year=2007 |isbn= |volume=4 |location=Washington |pages=39–109 |chapter=Iron Oxides |oclc=12804059}}{{Rp|page=56}} In the 18th century, Spanish painter Antonio Palomino called umber "very false."{{Rp|page=56}} Jan Blockx, a Belgian painter, opined, "umber should not appear on the palette of the conscientious painter."{{Rp|page=56}}

Umber is a natural brown pigment extracted from clay containing iron, manganese, and hydroxides.{{Cite book |title=Shorter Oxford English dictionary on historical principles. |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor=Lesley Brown |isbn=0-19-860575-7 |edition=5th |location=Oxford |oclc=50017616}} Umber has diverse hues, ranging from yellow-brown to reddish-brown and even green-brown. The color shade varies depending on the proportions of the components. When heated, umber becomes a more intense color and can look almost black. Burnt umber is produced by calcining the raw version.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} The raw form of umber is typically used for ceramics because it is less expensive.{{Cite web |title=Raw Umber |url=https://digitalfire.com/material/raw+umber}}

These warm and earthy tones make it a valuable and versatile pigment for oil painting and other artwork. Umber's high opacity and reactivity of light allow the pigment to have strong hiding power.{{Cite web |title=Umber – CAMEO |url=https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Umber |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=cameo.mfa.org |language=en}} It is insoluble in water, resistant to alkalis and weak acids, and non-reactive with cement, solvents, oils, and most resins. Umber is known for its stability.{{Rp|page=149}}

{{gallery

|title = Pigment samples

|align = center

|File:LimoniteUSGOV.jpg|Limonite, or hydrated iron oxide, is the basic ingredient of the earth pigments ochre, sienna and umber.

|File:ManganeseOreUSGOV.jpg|The presence of a large amount of manganese makes umber earth colors darker than ochre or sienna.

|File:Terra ombra naturale umber.jpg|The pigment known as raw umber or natural umber came originally from Umbria, in Italy.

|File:Terra ombra naturale.JPG|Another sample of natural umber pigment.

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File:Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg, Mona Lisa, Early 16th century. A laboratory analysis has revealed the presence of umber.{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Mona Lisa |date=2012-09-08 |title=Analysis of the Materials used in the 'Earlier Mona Lisa' |url=https://monalisa.org/2012/09/08/leonardos-materials-the-canvas-the-paint/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=The Mona Lisa Foundation |language=en-US}}]]

Umber became widely used throughout the Renaissance period for oil paintings.{{Cite web |last=O'Hanlon|first=George|title=Umber: The Historical And Versatile Earth Pigment - Its Uses, Properties, And Sustainability |url=https://www.naturalpigments.com/artist-materials/umber-exploring-natural-brown-earth-pigment |date=March 12, 2023|access-date=2023-04-15 |website=www.naturalpigments.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414225619/https://www.naturalpigments.com/artist-materials/umber-exploring-natural-brown-earth-pigment|archive-date=April 14, 2024|url-status=live}} In the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci used umber for the brown tones throughout his subject's hair and clothing. Da Vinci also extensively used umber in his painting the Last Supper to create shadows and outlines of the figures.{{Cite web |date=2017-04-12 |title=What is actually depicted on The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci? |url=https://arthive.com/publications/2590~What_is_actually_depicted_on_The_Last_Supper_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Arthive}} Throughout the Baroque period, many renowned painters used umber.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

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|title = Use in art

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|File:Caravaggioapollo.jpg|The Italian baroque painter Caravaggio used umber to create the darkness in his chiaroscuro ("light-dark") style of painting.

|File:Johannes Vermeer - Het melkmeisje - Google Art Project.jpg|The milkmaid, by Johannes Vermeer (1650). Vermeer used umber for the shadows on the whitewashed walls, since they were warmer than those made with black.

|File:Rembrandt van Rijn - Self-Portrait - Google Art Project.jpg|Self portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn (1659). Rembrandt used umbers to create his rich and complex browns, as a ground, and to speed the drying of his paintings.

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{{infobox color

|title=Raw Umber

|hex=826644

|source={{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121122220208/http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-r.htm ISCC-NBS]}}

|isccname=Moderate yellowish brown}}

This is the color raw umber.

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{{infobox color

|title=Burnt umber

|hex=8A3324

|source=[http://xona.com/colorlist/ Xona.com Color List]

|isccname=Strong reddish brown}}

Burnt umber is made by heating raw umber, which dehydrates the iron oxides and changes them partially to the more reddish hematite. It is used for both oil and water color paint.{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Colour|last=St. Clair|first=Kassia|publisher=John Murray|year=2016|isbn=9781473630819|location=London|pages=250–252|oclc=936144129}}

The first recorded use of burnt umber as a color name in English was in 1650.Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 191; Color Sample of Burnt Umber: Page 53 Plate 15 Color Sample A12

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• Lists of colors
• List of inorganic pigments

• {{cite web |url=http://www.essentialvermeer.com/palette/palette_umber.html |title=Raw Umber |publisher=Essential Vermeer}} — Discussion of umber and its use by Vermeer and other painters.

{{Shades of brown}}

{{Manganese minerals}}

Category:Shades of brown

Category:Iron oxide pigments

Category:Iron minerals

Category:Manganese minerals

Category:Oxide minerals