{{Short description|Lead-antimonate inorganic pigment used in paintings}} {{infobox color |title=Naples Yellow |hex=FADA5E |source=ISCC-NBS<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-n.htm|title=Retsof online version of ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names - Na through Nz|date=November 22, 2012|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122220048/http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-n.htm |archive-date=22 November 2012 }}</ref> |isccname=Brilliant yellow}}

'''Naples yellow''', also called '''antimony yellow''' or '''lead antimonate yellow''', is an inorganic pigment that largely replaced lead-tin-yellow and has been used in European paintings since the seventeenth century.<ref name="Dalton2">{{cite journal |author=Robin J. H. Clark |author2=Lucas Cridland |author3=Benson M. Kariuki |author4=Kenneth D. M. Harris |author5=Robert Withnall |year=1995 |title=Synthesis, Structural Characterization and Raman Spectroscopy of the Inorganic Pigments Lead Tin Yellow Types I and II and Lead Antimonate Yellow: Their Identification on Medieval Paintings and Manuscripts |journal=Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions |issue=16 |pages=2577–2582 |doi=10.1039/DT9950002577}}</ref><ref name=":07">{{Cite book |last1=Wainwright |first1=Ian. N. M |title=Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of their History and Characteristics, vol. 1 |last2=Taylor |first2=John M. |last3=Harley |first3=Rosamond D. |publisher=National Gallery of Art |year=1986 |edition=R. L. Feller |location=Washington |pages=219–254 |chapter=Lead Antimonate Yellow}}</ref>{{Rp|page=219}} While the mineral orpiment is considered to be the oldest yellow pigment, Naples yellow, like Egyptian blue, is one of the oldest known synthetic pigments.<ref name="Ullmann2">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |encyclopedia=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |publisher=Wiley-VCH |place=Weinheim |doi=10.1002/14356007.a20_243.pub2 |isbn=3-527-30673-0 |display-authors=etal |author=Völz, Hans G. |chapter=Pigments, Inorganic}}</ref><ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=219}} Naples yellow was used in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, finding widespread application during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=221}} Prior to its earliest occurrences in European paintings, the pigment was commonly employed in pottery, glazes, enamels, and glass.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=225}} The pigment ranged in hue from a muted, earthy, reddish yellow to a bright light yellow.

A Latin treatise from the late 17th century by Andrea Pozzo referred to the pigment as ''luteolum napolitanum,'' which is the first recorded use of the term "Naples yellow"; its English name first appeared in print in 1738.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=St. Clair |first=Kassia |title=The Secret Lives of Color |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2017 |location=New York, New York |pages=76–77 |chapter=Naples Yellow}}</ref>{{Rp|page=76}}<ref name=":22">Maerz and Paul. ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1930, p. 205; Color Sample of Naples Yellow: Page 43, Plate 10, Color Sample F3</ref> Naples yellow originally referred to the chemical compound lead antimonate (Pb<sub>2</sub>Sb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>), but by the middle of the nineteenth century, a majority of manufacturers had stopped producing pure lead antimonate.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=219}} Since then, writers and artists have incorrectly used Naples yellow to refer to other lead-based yellows.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eastaugh |first=Nicholas |title=The Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary of Historical Pigments |publisher=Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann |year=2004 |location=Boston |page=273}}</ref> The related mineral of lead antimonate is bindheimite. However, this natural version was rarely employed as a pigment. After 1800, Naples yellow was superseded by chrome yellow (lead chromate) cadmium sulfide, and cobalt yellow.<ref name="Dalton2" /> thumb|Portion of the dilead antimonate (Pb<sub>2</sub>Sb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>) structure (black = Pb, violet = Sb, red = O). This structure illustrates the complex, polymeric nature of many inorganic pigments.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ivanov, S. A. |author2=Zavodnik, V. E. |year=1990 |title=Crystal structure of lead antimonate Pb<sub>2</sub>Sb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub> |journal=Kristallografiya |volume=35 |pages=842–p846}}</ref>

== History == Naples yellow is one of the earliest synthetic pigments, its earliest uses dating from the period between the sixteenth and fourteenth century BC in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=219}} Traces of Naples yellow have been discovered on glass fragments, glazed bricks, and glazed tiles from these ancient civilizations.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=221}} Since its basic components, such as lead oxide and antimony oxide, had to be chemically manufactured, its early production would have required a high level of knowledge and skill.<ref name=":13"/>{{Rp|page=77}} Early color theorists speculated that Naples yellow had originated from Naples or Italy's Mount Vesuvius.<ref name=":22"/> It was not until the late eighteenth century that Naples yellow was generally recognized as a synthetic pigment of lead antimonate.<ref name=":22" />

The Italians first adopted Naples yellow as an enamel for tin-glazed pottery, or maiolica, from the beginning of the sixteenth century.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=221}} The pigment then started to appear in European paintings, and between 1750 and 1850, when it achieved greater popularity in the art world.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=226}} "Naples yellow" was a phrase that was first used in a treatise on frescos by Andrea Pozzo, published in Rome between 1693 and 1700. There, Pozzo refers to Naples yellow as ''luteolum napolitanum.''<ref name=":13"/>{{Rp|page=76}} By 1850, Naples yellow was sold in a variety of shades, such as French Naples yellow.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=223}}Manufacturers like C. Roberson and Co. produced Naples yellow until 1885.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=231}} However, its popularity declined and it was progressively replaced by other yellow pigments like lead chromate and cadmium sulfide.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=226}} Manufacturers today typically produce Naples yellow in combination with other pigments, such as ochre, iron oxide, lead white, titanium white, or zinc white, rather than pure lead antimonate.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=245}} [[File:Adriaen_van_de_Werff_-_Entombment.jpg|thumb|Adriaen van der Werff, ''Entombment of Christ,'' 1703. An early European painting that used Naples yellow.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=246}}]]

== Visual characteristics == Naples yellow is a saturated yellow, occasionally with pink or off-white hues.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Pastoureau |first=Michel |title=Yellow: The History of a Color |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2019 |location=Princeton |page=152}}</ref> It has a strong hiding power and effectively covers other pigments.<ref name=":3" /> Temperature during production affects its hue. A more vibrant lemon-yellow is produced at higher temperatures, whereas an orange-yellow is produced at lower temperatures.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=227}} Some manufacturers also note that there are six different shades of Naples yellow, ranging from a greenish yellow to a pinkish orange yellow.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=227}}

== Permanence == Naples yellow is not a stable pigment.<ref name=":13"/>{{Rp|page=76}} It is susceptible to discoloration in humid air. George Field warned that Naples yellow can turn black.<ref name=":13" />{{Rp|page=77}} Naples yellow can also discolor in the presence of iron.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=227}} Field therefore advised artists to use a palette knife made of ivory or horn, not metal.<ref name=":13" />{{Rp|page=77}} thumb|Matthias Stom, ''The Arrest of Christ,'' c. 1630–1632. The earliest occurrence of Naples yellow in European painting.

== Notable occurrences == Naples yellow was frequently used in ancient times to glaze pottery and glass. A piece of glass from the site of Amenhotep II's palace at Thebes (now at the Victoria and Albert Museum) is one of the earliest known examples.<ref name=":07"/>{{Rp|page=248}} Naples yellow has frequently appeared on the palettes of European painters such as Anton Raphael Mengs, Francisco Goya, Jacques-Louis-David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Eugène Delacroix, and Paul Cézanne.<ref name=":07" />{{Rp|page=245}} The earliest occurrence of Naples yellow in European art is Matthias Stom's ''Arrest of Christ.''<ref name=":07" />{{Rp|page=223}}

== See also == * List of inorganic pigments

==References==

<references/>

==Literature== * Wainwright, I.N.M., Taylor, J.M. and Harley, R.D. Lead Antimonate yellow, in Artists' Pigments. A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol. 1: Feller, R.L. (Ed.) Oxford University Press 1986, p.&nbsp;219 – 254

==External links== * [http://colourlex.com/project/naples-yellow/ Naples yellow], ColourLex * List of colors

{{shades of yellow}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naples Yellow}} Category:Inorganic pigments Category:Shades of yellow Category:Antimonates