Editing Green (section)

== In history and art ==
===Prehistoric history===

[[Neolithic]] cave paintings do not have traces of green pigments, but neolithic peoples in northern Europe did make a green dye for clothing, made from the leaves of the [[birch]] tree. It was of very poor quality, more brown than green. Ceramics from ancient [[Mesopotamia]] show people wearing vivid green costumes, but it is not known how the colors were produced.<ref name="Anne Vachiron 2000 pg. 196">Anne Vachiron (2000), ''Couleurs – pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples'', p. 196</ref>

=== Ancient history ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
Gardens of Nakh 1.JPG|The gardens of ancient Egypt were symbols of rebirth. Tomb painting of the gardens of Amon at the temple of Karnak, from the tomb of Nakh, the chief gardener. Early 14th century BC.
Osiris-tomb-of-Nefertari.jpg|The Ancient Egyptian god [[Osiris]], ruler of the underworld and of rebirth and regeneration, was typically shown with a green face. (Tomb of [[Nefertari]], 1295–1253 BC)
Primavera di Stabiae.jpg|Ancient Roman fresco of Flora, or Spring, from [[Stabiae]] (2nd century AD)
Gorgan ceramic.JPG|Gorgan ceramic, Early 13th century
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In [[Ancient Egypt]], green was the symbol of regeneration and rebirth, and of the crops made possible by the annual flooding of the Nile. For painting on the walls of tombs or on papyrus, Egyptian artists used finely ground [[malachite]], mined in the west Sinai and the eastern desert; a paintbox with malachite pigment was found inside the tomb of King [[Tutankhamun]]. They also used less expensive green earth pigment, or mixed yellow ochre and blue [[azurite]]. To dye fabrics green, they first colored them yellow with dye made from [[saffron]] and then soaked them in blue dye from the roots of the [[woad]] plant.<ref name="Anne Vachiron 2000 pg. 196" />

For the ancient Egyptians, green had very positive associations. The [[hieroglyph]] for green represented a growing [[papyrus]] sprout, showing the close connection between green, vegetation, vigor and growth. In wall paintings, the ruler of the underworld, [[Osiris]], was typically portrayed with a green face, because green was the symbol of good health and rebirth. Palettes of green facial makeup, made with malachite, were found in tombs. It was worn by both the living and the dead, particularly around the eyes, to protect them from evil. Tombs also often contained small green amulets in the shape of [[scarab beetles]] made of malachite, which would protect and give vigor to the deceased. It also symbolized the sea, which was called the "Very Green".<ref>Anne Vachiron (2000), ''Couleurs – pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples'', p. 203</ref>

In Ancient Greece, green and blue were sometimes considered the same color, and the same word sometimes described the color of the sea and the color of trees. The philosopher [[Democritus]] described two different greens: {{Transliteration|grc|chloron}}, or pale green, and {{Transliteration|grc|prasinon}}, or [[leek]] green. [[Aristotle]] considered that green was located midway between black, symbolizing the earth, and white, symbolizing water. However, green was not counted among the four classic colors of Greek painting – red, yellow, black and white – and is rarely found in Greek art.{{sfn|Gage|1993|p=12}}

The Romans had a greater appreciation for the color green; it was the color of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], the goddess of gardens, vegetables and vineyards. The Romans made a fine green earth pigment that was widely used in the wall paintings of [[Pompeii]], [[Herculaneum]], [[Lyon]], [[Vaison-la-Romaine]], and other Roman cities. They also used the pigment verdigris, made by soaking copper plates in fermenting wine.<ref>Anne Vachiron (2000), ''Couleurs – pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples'', p. 214.</ref> By the second century AD, the Romans were using green in paintings, mosaics and glass, and there were ten different words in Latin for varieties of green.{{sfn|Gage|1993|pp=11–27}}

=== Postclassical history ===
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Van Eyck - Arnolfini Portrait.jpg|In the ''[[Arnolfini portrait]]'' by [[Jan van Eyck]] (1434), the rich green fabric of the dress showed the wealth and status of the family.
Duccio di Buoninsegna 068.jpg|[[Duccio di Buoninsegna]] painted the faces in this painting (1308–1311) with an undercoat of green earth pigment. The surface pink has faded, making the faces look green today.
Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|The green costume of the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' shows she was from the gentry, not from the nobility.
Michael Pacher 004.jpg|In the 15th century ''[[Saint Wolfgang]] and the Devil'' by [[Michael Pacher]], the [[Devil]] is green. Poets such as [[Chaucer]] also drew connections between the color green and the devil.<ref>Robertson, D. W. Jr. "Why the Devil Wears Green." ''Modern Language Notes.'' (Nov 1954) 69.7 pp. 470–72</ref>
Pietro Perugino cat67a.jpg|In this 1503 painting by [[Perugino]], malachite pigment was used to paint the bright green garments of the worshippers, while the background greens were painted in green earth pigments.
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In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the color of clothing showed a person's social rank and profession. Red could only be worn by the nobility, brown and gray by peasants, and green by merchants, bankers and the gentry and their families. The [[Mona Lisa]] wears green in her portrait, as does the bride in the Arnolfini portrait by [[Jan van Eyck]].

There were no good vegetal green dyes which resisted washing and sunlight for those who wanted or were required to wear green. Green dyes were made out of the [[fern]], [[Plantain (cooking)|plantain]], [[buckthorn]] berries, the juice of [[Urtica|nettles]] and of [[leeks]], the [[digitalis]] plant, the [[broom (shrub)|broom]] plant, the leaves of the [[fraxinus]], or ash tree, and the bark of the [[alder]] tree, but they rapidly faded or changed color. Only in the 16th century was a good green dye produced, by first dyeing the cloth blue with woad, and then yellow with ''[[Reseda luteola]]'', also known as yellow-weed.{{sfn|Varichon|2000|p=128}}

The pigments available to painters were more varied; monks in monasteries used verdigris, made by soaking copper in fermenting wine, to color medieval manuscripts. They also used finely-ground malachite, which made a luminous green. They used green earth colors for backgrounds.

During the early Renaissance, painters such as [[Duccio di Buoninsegna]] learned to paint faces first with a green undercoat, then with pink, which gave the faces a more realistic hue. Over the centuries the pink has faded, making some of the faces look green.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/antiquity.html|title=Pigments through the Ages - Antiquity|website=www.webexhibits.org}}</ref>

===Modern history===
==== In the 18th and 19th century ====

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px">
Constable DeadhamVale.jpg|''Dedham Vale'' (1802) by [[John Constable]]. The paintings of Constable romanticized the vivid green landscapes of England
Jean-Baptiste Debret - Coroação de D. Pedro I.jpg|In the painting of [[Jean-Baptiste Debret]] (1822), Emperor [[Pedro I of Brazil]] wearing the imperial mantle decorated with green fabric.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot 010.jpg|In the paintings of [[Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot]] (1796–1875), the green of trees and nature became the central element of the painting, with the people secondary
Marie Bashkirtseff 2.jpg|''Spring'', by [[Marie Bashkirtseff]], 1884
Vincent Willem van Gogh 076.jpg|''[[The Night Café]]'', (1888), by [[Vincent van Gogh]], used red and green to express what Van Gogh called "the terrible human passions."
Émile Bernard - Still life with teapot, cup and fruit - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Émile Bernard (painter)|Émile Bernard]] – ''Still life with green teapot, cup and fruit'', 1890
Louis Anquetin - Woman at the Champs-Élysées by night - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Louis Anquetin]] – ''Woman at the Champs-Élysées by night''
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The 18th and 19th centuries brought the discovery and production of synthetic green pigments and dyes, which rapidly replaced the earlier mineral and vegetable pigments and dyes. These new dyes were more stable and brilliant than the vegetable dyes, but some contained high levels of [[arsenic]], and were eventually banned.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, green was associated with the [[romantic movement]] in literature and art.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Romantic Period|url=https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/british-literature-through-history/s06-the-romantic-period.html|access-date=2020-08-12|website=2012books.lardbucket.org}}</ref> The German poet and philosopher [[Goethe]] declared that green was the most restful color, suitable for decorating bedrooms. Painters such as [[John Constable]] and [[Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot]] depicted the lush green of rural landscapes and forests. Green was contrasted to the smoky grays and blacks of the Industrial Revolution.

The second half of the 19th century saw the use of green in art to create specific emotions, not just to imitate nature. One of the first to make color the central element of his picture was the American artist [[James McNeill Whistler]], who created a series of paintings called "symphonies" or "noctures" of color, including ''Symphony in gray and green; The Ocean'' between 1866 and 1872.

The late 19th century also brought the systematic study of color theory, and particularly the study of how complementary colors such as red and green reinforced each other when they were placed next to each other. These studies were avidly followed by artists such as [[Vincent van Gogh]]. Describing his painting, [[The Night Café|The ''Night Cafe'']], to his brother Theo in 1888, Van Gogh wrote: "I sought to express with red and green the terrible human passions. The hall is blood red and pale yellow, with a green billiard table in the center, and four lamps of lemon yellow, with rays of orange and green. Everywhere it is a battle and antithesis of the most different reds and greens."<ref>Vincent van Gogh, ''Corréspondénce general'', number 533, cited by John Gage, ''Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction''.</ref>

==== In the 20th and 21st century ====
In the 1980s, green became a political symbol, the color of the [[Alliance '90/The Greens|Green Party in Germany]] and in many other European countries. It symbolized the [[environmental movement]], and also a new politics of the left which rejected traditional socialism and communism. (See {{slink|Green|In politics|nopage=y}} section below.)