Dallas Public Library

Red, the history of a color, Michel Pastoureau ; translated by Jody Gladding

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-213)

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Red

bibliography

958799687

Michel Pastoureau ; translated by Jody Gladding

the history of a color

"The color red has represented many things, from the life force and the divine to love, lust, and anger. Up through the Middle Ages, red held a place of privilege in the Western world. For many cultures, red was not just one color of many but rather the only color worthy enough to be used for social purposes--in some languages, the word for red was the same as the word for color. The first color developed for painting and dying, red became associated in antiquity with war, wealth, and power. In the medieval period, red held both religious significance, as the color of the blood of Christ and the fires of Hell, and secular meaning, as a symbol of love, glory, and beauty. Yet during the Protestant Reformation, red began to decline in status. Viewed as indecent and immoral and linked to luxury and the excesses of the Catholic Church, red fell out of favor. After the French Revolution, red gained new respect as the color of progressive movements and radical left-wing politics. In this beautifully illustrated book, Michel Pastoureau, the acclaimed author of Blue, Black, and Green, now masterfully navigates centuries of symbolism and complex meanings to present the fascinating and sometimes controversial history of the color red. Pastoureau illuminates red's evolution through a diverse selection of captivating images, from the cave paintings of Lascaux, the works of Renaissance masters, to modern paintings and stained glass by Mark Rothko and Josef Albers"--Inside front jacket flap

The first color : from earliest times to the end of antiquity: The first palettes ; Fire and blood ; With Pliny among the painters ; Dyeing in red ; Roman purple ; Red in everyday life ; Evidence from the lexicon -- The favorite color : sixth to fourteenth centuries: The four reds of the church fathers ; The blood of Christ ; The red of power ; The first color of heraldry ; Love, glory, and beauty ; Blue versus red ; The wardrobes of beautiful Florentine ladies -- A controversial color : fourteenth to seventeenth centuries: In the flames of Hell ; Judas, the redhead ; Hatred of red ; The red of painters ; A primary color ; Fabric and clothing ; Little red riding hood -- A dangerous color? : eighteenth to twenty-first centuries: On the margins of red : pink ; Makeup and society life ; Red caps and flags : in the midst of the revolution ; A political color ; Emblems and signals ; Red for the present day