Cobalt blue

This box shows the color cobalt blue.

Cobalt blue is a cool blue colour. Louis Jacques Thénard discovered this colour in 1802. People make it using cobalt salts. That is why it is called cobalt blue.

Many artists use cobalt blue. Many pieces of glassware have this colour. Glassware that has this colour is called cobalt glass.

Cobalt blue in popular media

John Varley said that cobalt blue should be used to paint skies. Before this, most artists used ultramarine blue.
Maxfield Parrish was a famous painter who painted the sky. People liked the bright colours that he used in his paintings. Commonly, he used cobalt blue. Because he was so popular, cobalt blue is also called Parrish blue.
The Chinese made blue and white porcelain with cobalt blue. They used it as the main blue pigment because it was easy to make. The first used it during the late 1700s and early 1800s. It was very good and they used it for a long time afterwards.

Name	HEX Code	Red	Green	Blue	Hue	Sat	Lum	Source
Cobalt blue	#0047AB	0	71	171	215°	100%	34%
Zaffre	#0014AB	0	20	171	233°	100%	34%
Smalt	#003399	0	51	63	220°	100%	30%	(Dark Powder Blue)
Spanish Cobalt Blue	#00438A	0	67	138	211°	100%	27%	Cobalt Blue (Gallego & Sanz)
Thenard Blue	#333C87	51	60	135	234°	45%	36%	Gallego & Sanz

↑ "Louis Jacques Thénard". philamuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
↑ Brown, Evan Nicole (February 5, 2021). "It's Not Every Day We Get a New Blue". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
↑ "Chinese visual arts » Stylistic and historical development, 1206–1912 » Yüan dynasty (1206–1368) » Ceramics." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 14 May 2009.