How snails made purple a royal colour

Why do we see purple as the colour of royalty? It all starts on the Mediterranean coast with some unassuming, and eventually very unfortunate, seasnails.

Travel back to ancient times with colour specialist Victoria Finlay and National Gallery host Beks Leary to trace the story of Tyrian purple through time.

Victoria has written several books about colour – including 'Colour, Travels through the Paintbox' and 'The Brilliant History of Color in Art' – which involved travelling across the globe to the very places that ancient pigments and dyes came from. Her most recent book is about the hidden histories of fabric.

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kcPMFsafav8

You can email us with any questions via [email protected]

Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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Paintings mentioned:

Peter Paul Rubens, ‘La Découverte de la Pourpre un phenicien trouve grace a son chien un coquillage produisant la teintre rouge’, about 1636. Musée Bonnat, Bayonne, France © Musée Bonnat, Bayonne, France / Photo Josse/Scala, Florence https://webmuseo.com/ws/musee-bonnat-helleu/app/collection/record/1923

Raphael, ‘The Dream of a Knight’, about 1504. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/raphael-the-dream-of-a-knight

Lorenzo Costa, 'Portrait (supposed to be of Battista Fiera)', 1490-5. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/lorenzo-costa-portrait-supposed-to-be-of-battista-fiera

Master of the Bruges Passion Scenes, 'Christ presented to the People', about 1510. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/master-of-the-bruges-passion-scenes-christ-presented-to-the-people

Further reading:

Victoria Finlay, Color: A Natural History of the Palette, 2002

Victoria Finlay, Colour: Travels through the Paintbox, 2002

Victoria Finlay, The Brilliant History of Color in Art, 2014

Victoria Finlay, Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World, 2021

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, composed around 2nd century AD

Find out more about the Tito Bustillo Cave here: https://www.centrotitobustillo.com/en/cueva-tito-bustillo

Julius Pollox, Onomasticon, composed around 2nd century AD

Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis [Natural History], published around 77 AD

Find out more about the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy: https://www.turismo.ra.it/en/culture-and-history/religious-buildings/basilica-san-vitale/

Silius Italicus, Punica, composed around the late 1st century AD – see Book XV for the passage on Scipio’s choice

Find out more about technical analysis of Raphael’s ‘The Dream of a Knight’ in the National Gallery’s Technical Bulletin: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/roy_spring_plazzotta2004

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Episode Credits:

Guest: Victoria Finlay

Host and executive producer: Beks Leary

Producer: Harry Rosehill

Researcher: Hannah Rogers

Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver

Editor: Jeanne Kenyon

Theme music: Theo Elwell