Colour story: Alizarin Crimson

Madder dye 

Alizarin Crimson began as a dye thousands of years ago, made from the herbaceous madder plant native to Asia and Southern Europe. The dye was prominently used for colouring clothes, and traces have been uncovered in Ancient Egypt, Iran and the ruins of Pompeii. By the 7th century BC, the dye had been made into a lake pigment and was used across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. By this time, the use of madder dye and pigment was widespread, but they remained costly and time consuming to produce. 

Chemical developments  

In the early 19th century, renowned colourman George Field conducted extensive research into the madder plant. The result was a more efficient process to create the lake pigment. The findings were instrumental in the development of some of the early Winsor & Newton colours and gave more artists access to permanent materials. 

In 1826, chemists Jean-Jacques Colin and Pierre-Jean Robiquet made further developments, and isolated two separate dyes in madder: alizarin and purpurin. This was followed by chemists Carl Gräbe and Carl Liebermann distilling alizarin with zinc, leading them to discover anthraquinone in 1869. They then synthesised the pigment from coal tar, which made Alizarin Crimson the first natural dye to be synthesised. This synthetic version was a fraction of the price to make, and its consistency and lightfastness quickly made it a favourite red pigment for artists. 

Alizarin Crimson today 

Today, artists will often find that pigments called ‘Alizarin Crimson’ are usually made of the original lake pigment, which makes them closer to the original madder dye. Those labelled ‘Permanent Alizarin Crimson’, however, are made with highly stable and permanent synthetic alternatives. Both are valuable, and offer cool, dark-red paints and versatile mixing colours that connect the artist to a long history of advancements.