The blue particles, it turns out, were lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone that was highly prized at the time for its vivid colour and was ground up and used as a pigment. Ultramarine, as the powdered form of lapis lazuli is known, was the finest and most expensive pigment in medieval Europe, more valuable even than gold. “If she was using lapis lazuli, she was probably very, very good,” said Beach, co-author of a report published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. That’s in part because monasteries kept better records than female religious organizations did, and because men were more likely to sign their works, she said. “It’s very rare and very expensive.” She added: “There is no lapis lazuli in the burial environment.

Source: National Post January 09, 2019 19:41 UTC