“The sky over London was glorious, ochre and madder, as though a dozen tropic suns were simultaneously setting round the horizon.” EVELYN WAUGH
Desert landscapes. Pottery. Cosmetics. Cave painting. Butterscotch. All of these are identified with the color ochre, a natural earth pigment that’s a mixture of clay and ferric oxide-hydroxide (the major ingredient in all ochres). Known as limonite, this compound of iron, oxygen and hydrogen is what gives ochre its yellow color. Although yellow is its most common color, ochre can also be red, purple, green or brown, depending on what other minerals are present. Yellow ochre symbolizes vitality, eternity, fertility, earthiness and contentment.
Ochre is one of the oldest colors used in the world. The word ochre is derived from the Greek ochros, which means “yellowish.” It comes directly from the earth and was easily accessible and readily available to our prehistoric ancestors. It was one of the first pigments used in cave art across the globe, from South Africa to France to Australia. Ochre was a favorite of artisans in the Indus Valley civilization, created by crushing mustard seeds or turmeric roots to make dyes for carpets and fabrics.
In Ancient Egypt, yellow was associated with gold, which was thought to be eternal and indestructible. The skin and bones of the gods were believed to be made of gold. The Egyptians used yellow ochre extensively for tomb painting and on obelisks. In tombs, women had ochre flesh while men had brown bodies, and ochre lines are featured on the Unfinished Obelisk at Aswan Stone Quarry. Ochre clays were also used medicinally by ancient Egyptians. Centuries later, Pompeii’s murals would contain enormous amounts of the color ochre.
A painting from the tomb of Nakht, an Egyptian official who was a scribe and astronomer during the 15th century BC.
A boy, his dog and 364 ochre horses.
In September 1940, the entrance to the Lascaux Cave was discovered in France by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat and his dog, Robot. Returning with three teenage friends, they entered the cave and discovered the walls covered with depictions of animals. Eventually, it was determined that the cave contains nearly 6,000 drawings of animals, human figures and abstract signs. Most of the images are too faint to discern, but over 900 can be identified as animals, and 605 of these have been precisely identified. Primarily yellow, red and black in color, the images had been painted using the materials at hand – the earth itself, using forms of iron oxide. The most famous section of the cave is The Hall of the Bulls where bulls, horses, deer and the only bear in the cave are depicted. One of the bulls is more than 17 feet long, the largest animal encountered so far. And stampeding through the series of 37 decorated caves are 364 ochre horses.
