Pigments, Colors & Other Stories

Pigments, Colors & Other Stories

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The fascinating palette of yellow pigments in South Asia (I)
Lately, I have been trying to learn about color symbolism in Asia, and expand my knowledge of pigments and dyes in other cultures.
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María Castro Jiménez
My identity in 5 objects
Imagine you have to make a list of the 5 things that better represent who you are. What would you choose?
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María Castro Jiménez
Chromatic Rebel #2: why is the West so color-minimalist?
Have you ever observed that Western culture seems to be more minimalistic in terms of color than any other? Here I examined the reasons behind it.
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María Castro Jiménez
Research obsessions: Why are we pulled towards certain topics?
And a list of 15 of my research obsessions throughout the years.
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María Castro Jiménez
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Chromatic Rebel #1: no to beige
Why does it seem like lately everything is beige? What´s behind this trend?
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María Castro Jiménez

Recent posts

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Intuition vs. science
Where does knowledge come from? Are there some ways of learning that we might be overlooking and could be valuable in research?
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María Castro Jiménez
2
Color and power: a short history of purple
When you think about the color of power, you may think of golden, because we understand the value of gold throughout history. But what if I tell you…
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María Castro Jiménez
What pigments did Velázquez use in Las Meninas?
Las Meninas is one of the most famous paintings in Europe´s Art History. I recently saw it, and wondered: what pigments were used in Velázquez´s…
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María Castro Jiménez
Color on everything: a revised history of ancient architecture
For too long, we´ve assumed that architecture from the past was colorless. New conservation and restoration techniques have proven otherwise, and the…
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María Castro Jiménez
Toxic beauty (II)
The second post about historical toxic cosmetics: here I talk about cinnabar and clay (yes, clay can be toxic when you use it the way it was used in…
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María Castro Jiménez
Want to learn why color is one of the single most important elements of human evolution, history, scientific innovation, art and the rise and falling of civilizations?
© 2025 María Castro Jiménez
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