Caput mortuum
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Description
An obsolete name for a reddish-brown pigment prepared by calcining red iron oxide. Rusted iron oxide was considered a useless residue, thus the name caput mortuum. The color is stable to light and heat. See Mars violet, Venetian red, Colcothar, and Indian red.
Synonyms and Related Terms
Pigment Red 101; caput mortuum (It.); caput mortum; caput mortem; cardinal purple; Venetian red; colcothar; Spanish Brown; Falun red; burnt vitriol
Resources and Citations
- Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
- R.D. Harley, Artists' Pigments c. 1600-1835, Butterworth Scientific, London, 1982
- Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
- Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000
- Wikipedia: Caput mortuum pigment Accessed Feb 2026
- ColourLex: Caput Mortuum