Maya blue ( es, azul maya) is a unique bright azure blue

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compou ...

manufactured by cultures of

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

, such as the

Mayans The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical reg ...

and Aztecs.

Manufacture

The Maya blue pigment is a composite of organic and inorganic constituents, primarily indigo dyes derived from the leaves of anil (''Indigofera suffruticosa'') plants combined with

palygorskite Palygorskite or attapulgite is a magnesium aluminium phyllosilicate with the chemical formula ) that occurs in a type of clay soil common to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the types of fuller's earth. Some smaller deposits of thi ...

, a natural clay which is not known to exist in abundant deposits in Mesoamerica. Smaller trace amounts of other mineral additives have also been identified.

Historical use

Maya blue first appeared around 800, and it was still used in the 16th century in several Convents of Colonial Mexico, notably in the paintings of the Indian Juan Gerson in Tecamachalco. These paintings are a clear example of the combination of Indian and European techniques sometimes known as '' Arte Indocristiano''. After that, the techniques for its production were lost in Mexico, but in Cuba there are examples from as late as 1830.

Resistance to weathering

Despite time and the harsh weathering conditions, paintings coloured by Maya blue have not faded over time. The color has resisted chemical solvents and acids such as nitric acid. Its resistance against chemical aggression (acids, alkalis, solvents, etc.) and biodegradation was tested, and it was shown that Maya blue is an extremely resistant pigment, but it can be destroyed using very intense acid treatment under

reflux Reflux is a technique involving the condensation of vapors and the return of this condensate to the system from which it originated. It is used in industrial and laboratory distillations. It is also used in chemistry to supply energy to reactions ...

. Because of its exceptionally durable colour properties, Maya Blue is an iconic system that led to paleo-inspired chemistry, i.e. the recreation of new pigments such as ''Maya Violet'' which exploits the molecular structure of Maya Blue towards new pigment combinations.

Research on chemical composition

The chemical composition of the compound was determined by

powder diffraction Powder diffraction is a scientific technique using X-ray, neutron, or electron diffraction on powder or microcrystalline samples for structural characterization of materials. An instrument dedicated to performing such powder measurements is call ...

in the 1950s and was found to be a composite of

and indigo, most likely derived from the leaves of the ''añil''. An actual recipe to reproduce Maya blue pigment was published in 1993 by a Mexican historian and chemist, Constantino Reyes-Valerio. The combination of different clays (palygorskite and

montmorillonite Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate group of minerals that form when they precipitate from water solution as microscopic crystals, known as clay. It is named after Montmorillon in France. Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite gro ...

), together with the use of the leaves of the ''añil'' and the actual process is described in his paper. Reyes-Valerio's contributions were possibly due to his combined background of history and chemistry, through a thorough revision of primary texts (Sahagun, Hernandez, Jimenez, and others), microscopic analysis of the mural paintings and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. After the formula for the production was published in the book ''De Bonampak al Templo Mayor: Historia del Azul Maya en Mesoamerica'', many developments in the chemical analysis of the pigment occurred in collaborations between Reyes-Valerio and European scientists. A comprehensive study on the pigment which describes history, the experimental study techniques (diffraction studies, infrared spectroscopies,

Raman amplification Raman amplification "Raman effect"
. ''

Pre-Columbian American culture * In the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, Maya blue was used as a

colorant A colourant/colour additive (British spelling) or colorant/color additive (American spelling) is a substance that is added or applied in order to change the colour of a material or surface. Colourants can be used for many purposes including printing ...

artworks,

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s, and textiles (probably), and to illuminate Mesoamerican codices. For example, many illustrations in the

Florentine Codex The ''Florentine Codex'' is a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Sahagún originally titled it: ''La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'' (in English: ''Th ...

written by

Bernardino de Sahagún Bernardino de Sahagún, OFM (; – 5 February 1590) was a Franciscan friar, missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer who participated in the Catholic evangelization of colonial New Spain (now Mexico). Born in Sahagún, Spain, in 1499, ...

contain the Maya blue color. * The use of Maya blue was corroborated in the

Grolier Codex The ''Maya Codex of Mexico'' (MCM) is a Maya screenfold codex manuscript of a pre-Columbian type. Long known as the ''Grolier Codex'' or ''Sáenz Codex'', in 2018 it was officially renamed the ''Códice Maya de México'' (CMM) by the National ...

, and helped to authenticate the document, now known as Codex Maya of Mexico. * Recent research also suggests Maya blue may have played an important role in

human sacrifices Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

to Chaac at Chichén Itzá, both produced at the sacrificial site and used to paint the bodies of the victims. * Maya blue is associated with the center of a flame. Holding the most heat and therefore the most

tonalli Tonalli (see also: Tonal (mythology), Tonal) plays a multiplicity of roles; acting as a day sign, body part, and a symbol of the sun's warmth. Ancient Nahua people believed that it was located in the hair and the fontanel area of one's skull, and th ...

, the blue color is considered precious.

References

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External links

Azul Maya
descriptive site by Reyes-Valerio {{shades of blue, Maya Blue Maya science and technology Mesoamerican art Pre-Columbian art Maya art Shades of blue Shades of azure