Lapis Lazuli
The Stone
Lapis lazuli is a rock made up of several minerals. Lazurite gives it its deep blue colour, while pyrite adds small gold-coloured flecks and calcite forms white patches or veins. These minerals occur in different proportions, giving each stone its own pattern and variation in colour.
The History
People were making lapis lazuli beads more than 6,000 years ago. Examples have been found in ancient Mesopotamian burial sites, showing its early use in personal ornaments. Centuries later, Renaissance painters used it to produce ultramarine, a costly blue pigment. The same stone was valued both for what people could carve from it and for the colour it brought to art.