Color terms in medieval artists’ recipe books : diversity and variability. The puzzling case of ‘Paris Red’

Occurrences of historical color terms can be found in several old written sources and, notably, in medieval artists’ recipe books. In parallel to the physical descriptions of pigments and colorants, these writings deliver information about their optical characteristics, conservation, (in)compatibility with other sorts of materials, and ageing properties.
Examination conducted within a corpus of more than 400 recipe books, dating from 1300 to 1650 and produced in Northern Europe, has shed light on the diversity of color denominations and the several ways of designating a coloring material, such as pigments and colorants.
Color terms used in artists’ recipe books may have had various meanings and correspond to different hues, subtances or qualities. Moreover, the concept or the material designated by a color term may change, not just in time and space, but from one recipe to another even if they derive from the same source.
Looking through a large number of instructions dedicated to colors, it is possible to propose some categories for describing the different sorts of nomenclature and their nature, and it is also possible to suggest the range of pigments and colorants that one word could refer to. Variety and importance given to color names can also be put in relation with the importance and the symbolic value accorded to a coloring agent or a color.
This paper will focuss on the various appellations of red color. In particular, it will examine in depth the puzzling name “Paris Red”.