Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists

From the dazzling frescoes of Thebes to the elegant reliefs of Nineveh, this work opens a window onto the ancient art of colour. The author traces how early civilizations mixed mineral and vegetable pigments to achieve reds, blues, greens, and the famed ultramarine that still glows after millennia. By pairing vivid travelogue with careful scholarship, the book paints a picture of how aesthetics and material knowledge intertwined in the ancient world.

Moving beyond description, the narrative delves into the chemistry that modern science has uncovered in these timeless hues. Through detailed analysis of pigment composition—copper oxides, iron reds, and organic binders—the author reveals the early experimental techniques that foreshadow modern chromatography. Readers are guided through the detective work of scholars as they decode recipes, trade routes, and the cultural exchange that spread colour knowledge from Egypt to Assyria and eventually to Greece.