Michelle Pasturo
Red is the origin of all colors, the colors that human beings first mastered, imitated, and produced, and the colors that were first distinguished from different shades. In ancient Greece and Rome, red was once a symbol of power, wealth and dignity, and was appreciated and praised. By the Middle Ages, the religious significance of red had strengthened...
Recently, Michel Pastoureau, a French historian and researcher at the School of Advanced Studies and Applied Studies, wrote "The Tale of Colors: Red" published by the Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Triptych Bookstore. The book aims to establish a European "color history" from the perspective of European society and culture, telling the evolution of the role of red in European art history.
Color Column: Red
The Original Colors – from antiquity to the end of classical times
In Europe, for thousands of years, red was once the only color, and only red was worthy of the title "color". Whether in chronological order or from the perspective of hierarchy, red is at the top of all colors. It is not that other colors did not exist at that time, but that they took a long time to be recognized before they could take a place in secular culture, social rules and ideological systems, and then they could be compared with red.
Starting from red, human beings experience color for the first time, make color for the first time, and finally build a world of color. Similarly, humans have long distinguished the change of hue in the red system, creating various reds with delicate differences. This is evidenced by the oldest color vocabulary we know, as does painting and dyeing techniques. In some languages, the same word can mean "red" or "colored" in different contexts, such as coloratus in classical Latin and colorado in modern Spanish. In other languages, the adjectives "red" and "beautiful" share common roots, for example, krasnyy (red) and krasivy (beautiful) in Russian belong to the same family. Finally, there are languages where only three words for color exist: white, black, and red. But the words white and black are not really used as color words: essentially, they actually mean light and darkness, respectively, so only red is the word that is really used to represent color.
This priority of red is also reflected in everyday life and secular culture. Around the Mediterranean, people have long used red on houses, urban construction (masonry, tiles), utensils (various pottery and porcelain), fabrics, clothing, jewelry and even funerary goods, not only for beautification, but also to play a role in avoiding evil. Similarly, in artistic performances and religious ceremonies, red is often associated with power and sacredness, containing a wealth of symbolic symbolism and sometimes supernatural powers.
In many ways, the red of ancient society occupies the first place of color, which is both the first color recognized by people and the highest status color.
Tanum's ship
In Tanum, off the southwest coast of Sweden, a number of ancient ruins have been found, with a total of about 200 petroglyphs carved or forged by ancient humans on the rocks and then painted red. We can see a large number of boats in these paintings, some of which can clearly identify the paddler's rowing action. Where are these ships headed? Are they on their way to the Underworld?
Circa 800–750 BC, Tanumsheide (Sweden), Vitrick Rock Sculpture Museum
Sacrifice procession
On top of this extraordinary wooden panel painting, a sheep is led to the altar to be sacrificed. The sheep is tethered to a short red rope, which symbolizes that it is a sacrifice to the gods.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens, circa 530 BC
The Griffin House in Rome
The Griffin House is a dwelling located on palatine hill. There is a hall in the house, and on the walls of the hall there is a set of three-dimensional frescoes that use the principle of perspective, which belongs to the second style of Pompeii. Many different kinds of red pigments are used in the paintings: cinnabar, hematite, red lead.
About 80 BC, Rome, the house of the griffins
Favorite color: 6th-14th centuries
For the ancient Greeks and Romans, red was the most valued color, ranking first among all colors. But can we say that red was the most preferred color of the ancient Greeks and Romans? I'm afraid I can't say that. Not because red was unpopular, unpopular, or praised in ancient Greece and Rome, but because the word "preference" itself meant abstracting and conceptualizing color from the physical object, which the ancient Greeks and Romans could barely do. Now we can say without difficulty: "I like red... I don't like blue. "No problem either in French or in any European language. This is because color words are both adjectives and nouns, and they correspond in an absolute sense to a certain color category in reality, just like all nouns that represent abstract concepts. In antiquity, however, this was not the case, color was not a natural thing, not an independent abstract concept, it had to be used to describe, modify, distinguish an object, a natural element or a creature, and was inseparable from the object, the element, the creature. The ancient Romans could say without difficulty: "I like the red Toga robe, I hate the blue flowers." But it's hard for him to claim ,"I like red, I don't like blue" without making it clear which item he's referring to. For the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Israelites, the difficulties were even more serious.
So, in which era did the change occur? That is, since when did color change from substance to concept? This is a difficult question to answer because the change is slow and the pace of the process varies from field to domain. But we believe that the early Middle Ages played a decisive role in this process, especially in terms of language and vocabulary. For example, in the Church Fathers, the Church Fathers here are collective names for religious writers and missionaries in the history of the early Christian Church. Latin: Patres Ecclesiae; French: les Pères de l'Église. In his writings, the word color is used not only as an adjective, but also as a noun. It is true that this phenomenon also occurred in classical Latin, but it is not common, and it involves more the extended meaning of color words than their original meaning. In some of the fathers' writings, the situation was different: they were able to use nouns to directly represent color, some of which were true common nouns, such as rubor (Latin: red) or viritas (Latin: green), and some that were originally neutral forms of adjectives and were used as nouns: rubrum (red), viride (green), nigrum (black). This means that color is no longer attached to matter and is beginning to be seen as something that exists independently.
In the 12th century, the color system of liturgy spread throughout Europe, followed by the earliest heraldic language. At this point, it seems that something has been decided: color is henceforth free from the shackles of all matter and can be regarded as an abstract, general category; the concepts of red, green, blue, and yellow can be independent of their associated carriers, lusters, hues, pigments, and dyes, and become absolute existence in a sense. Among these colors that have become independent beings, the most favored is red.
The Great Whore of Babylon
According to the book of Revelation, the Babylonian harlot "wore purple and scarlet clothes" and "the kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the people who dwelt on the earth drunk her fornication." In this painting, she wears an ornate diamond-like cloak lined with gray-and-white stripes. The seven-headed monster she rode was bright red throughout because the book of Revelation says, "The woman was drunk with the blood of the saints." ”
Illustration of the Book of Revelation in French (partial, copied in 1313). Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, French manuscript No. 13096, 56 pages front
Whitsunday
On the day of the Coming of the Holy Spirit, the apostles gathered around the Virgin Mary to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The flames of the Holy Spirit turned into tongues descended on the apostles, so the liturgy of Pentecost was dominated by red, like a festival to commemorate martyrs and crusaders. The red color of the former symbolizes fire, and the red of the latter symbolizes blood.
Collected Hymns (c. 1165–1170), University of Glasgow Library, Manuscript No. 229, 12 pp. reverse
An elegant woman dressed in red
Although blue and black have become popular, in 14th-century Italy, the most beautiful long skirt should still be red. For young girls, red symbolizes elegance, love and beauty. Whenever there is a festive occasion, they will wear red clothes, and red is also the color of the bride's wedding dress.
The Complete Book of Health, transcribed and drawn in Milan, circa 1390-1400. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, Latin Manuscript No. 1673, 22 pp. reverse
Controversial: 1 4th - 17th centuries
By the end of the Middle Ages, the history of red had entered a turbulent phase. Its most valued position as the "head of color" began to be challenged, and it became increasingly controversial in the centuries that followed. It had to deal not only with the challenge of blue in many fields, but also with the challenge of black, because from this time on black became popular in the courts of various countries and was for a long time a representative of luxury and elegance. In terms of symbolic luxury, red's status declined, although red fabrics dyed with insect rouge were still sought after. Compared with the feudal era, bright, pure, shiny reds were no longer popular, and darker crimson reds were more popular, and less pure reds that were pink or purple. On the contrary, yellowish or brownish reds are rejected because they are associated with the fire of hell, original sin, pride, lies, lasciviousness, and many other evils. A typical example is brick red, which seems to combine the negative connotations of red and yellow. Worse still, the "red oak color" between brown and red, also known as "dark brick red," was described in several articles from 1500 to 1510 as "the ugliest of all colors."
Still, the main crisis facing red is not a challenge from other colors, nor is it a change in taste that people appreciate. This crisis came mainly from the extravagant edicts and protestant reforms, as well as the new color ethics that arose and spread from them. In this new system of color ethics, the image of red is too eye-catching, too expensive, not solemn, indecent, and unorthodox. Thus, from the end of the 16th century, in many aspects of secular culture and daily life, the red entered a period of decline in status. In terms of social ethics, the Catholic Church, while an opponent of the Protestant Reformation, also partially absorbed some Protestant values. The Catholic Church no longer reveres red, just as in the Pope's clothing, white gradually replaced red as the most dominant color.
Later in life, scientific advances accelerated the decline of red: in 1666 Isaac Newton discovered spectra, a completely new sequence of colors that remain the basis of color physics and color chemistry today. But in this sequence, red is not centered, as in the ancient and medieval periods, but at the edge of the spectrum. For the kings of color since ancient times, such a marginal position is not glorious enough. So from this point on, red seems to have lost some of its original symbolic symbolism, but only part of it.
Judas' Kiss
In medieval image materials, judas was often depicted with red hair and red hair, symbolizing his evil nature. In this painting, we observe something that can be called "color infiltration": not only is judas imaged with red hair and red hair, but the soon-to-be-arrested Jesus also has the same beard and hair color. We don't yet know why, but it's not uncommon in paintings with judas kisses.
Madame Mary's Picture Book, Hainaud, circa 1285-1290. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, French manuscript No. 16251, 33 pages on the reverse
Cunning fox
The fox has a brick-red fur, which represents the most treacherous and cunning image of the animal. In this painting, the fox lies on the ground pretending to be dead, causing the birds to approach without alert, and then burst out to catch and eat them.
Latin Animal Atlas, circa 1240. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodleian Manuscript No. 764, 26 pages front
The Red Haired Witch
At the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times, witches were thought to have green teeth and red hair. They would make potions to seduce men and then take them to the Demon Night Feast. In medieval "love potions" and poison recipes, valerian and hypericum were always indispensable ingredients.
Anon. Love Potion, Lower Rhine Valley, circa 1470-1480. Leipzig, Museum of Fine Arts
Dangerous colors? 1 8th — 21st centuries
The extravagant court life of the 17th century gives us the wrong impression of that era. In fact, from both a material and an ideological and spiritual point of view, the 17th century was a gloomy, miserable, and fearful era, at least for most people in Europe. Wars have been fought, famines have raged, meteorological disasters have occurred, and the average life expectancy of people has dropped to very low levels. In the history of France, the 17th century is called the "Great Era", but if a color is to be used as a symbol of the "Great Era", then it is not the gold of the Palace of Ersay, but the black of the miserable people.
In the 18th century, on the other hand, it was bright, brilliant, and colorful, and in the 19th century, the main colors of the world were once again dimmed. From the 1720s onwards, the "light" of the 18th century was not only reflected in the enlightenment of thought, but also in daily life: the doors and windows of the residence became larger; the lighting conditions improved, and the cost of the house was reduced. From this point on, people were able to better distinguish between colors and paid more attention to color. In addition, in the chemical field, the research on dyes has progressed rapidly and achieved decisive results, which have promoted the development of the dyeing industry and the textile industry. This was very beneficial to society as a whole, especially the middle class, who could henceforth use brightly colored textiles like the nobility. In all fields, especially in clothing and interior furnishings, the status of the dark shades of dull is declining, and the dark brown, black green and deep purple colors that were popular in the last century are no longer popular. Instead, they are bright, light, cheerful "crayon" colors, including blue, yellow, pink, and gray.
But these new trends and changes have had little effect on red. Blue became popular on a large scale in the 18th century, while red was the opposite. For many years, blue and red have been in a competitive relationship, and are often even seen as two opposing colors. It was in the 18th century that blue completely overwhelmed red and became the most preferred color of Europeans. To this day, Europeans still prefer blue the most, far ahead of all other colors, and the popularity of red lags not only behind blue but also behind green in the survey results. In modern Western societies, the decline of the red color is slow but irreversible, and the 18th century is the starting point of this process.
The red of love
Like other Fauvist painters, Van Donggen was good at using red, especially for women. His reds are always seductive, sometimes erotic and even dangerous.
Keith van Dongen, The Red Kiss, 1907. Private collections
The Red World of Prostitutes Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, In the Salon of the Mill Street, 1894-1895. Albi, Toulouse-Lautrec Museum
Soviet political propaganda posters
In Soviet propaganda, red and black were the two main colors. Germany under Hitler also used these two colors as the main color, and added white in addition to red and black. Goebbels considered the white-red-black colors to be "colors representing the power of the Aryan race."
Following Lenin's Banner to Victory, Soviet poster, 1941
(This article is excerpted from "Color Column: Red" ([Fa] Pasturo by Triptych Bookstore 2020-8)
Editor-in-Charge: Lu Linhan
Proofreader: Yijia Xu