All for Beauty

As I have mentioned in previous posts, many pigments were really nasty and very poisonous. Two yellows, called orpiment and realgar, both made by alchemy, are extremely poisonous and for this reason have gone out of use. Other pigments were poor driers or not permanent and thus lost popularity. So the list narrowed, and it is now published information in Art in the Making, that Rembrandt and his peers used mostly the following:

ivory and bone black, burnt umber, raw and burnt sienna, ochres, green earths, azurite, lapis, smalt, malachite, brown earths, genuine madder, genuine carmine, lead tin yellow, lead white, and cinnabar and vermilion.

Among the ones still widely used, but with extreme caution, are flake white, lead tin yellow, and Naples yellow; all containing lead. With care these colors can be used in the paint form, not dry pigment, because it is when the particles are air-borne they are the most dangerous.

Before the dangers of lead were known lead white was used in makeup and cosmetics. Victoria Finlay describes it vividly in her book, Color; A Natural History of the Palette, "Lead was a well known beauty enhancer during the 19th century in a product called Bloom of Youth. This  beauty enhancer made women dead pale beautiful. It was applied to the skin every morning assiduously. After a while, lethargy set in, then sleep cessation, and victims would take to their bed after feeling wobbly. Vomiting, constipation, and kidney collapse weren't far behind. Blue marks or plumb lines appeared on the wrists and ankles. All of  this brought an end with an agony of painful final hours".

It is known today to use care while using these pigments. Mask, gloves, and ventilation are mandatory.