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A beautifully illustrated visual and cultural history of
the color blue throughout the ages Blue has had a long and
topsy-turvy history in the Western world. The ancient Greeks
scorned it as ugly and barbaric, but most Americans and Europeans
now cite it as their favorite color. In this fascinating history,
the renowned medievalist Michel Pastoureau traces the changing
meanings of blue from its rare appearance in prehistoric art to its
international ubiquity today. Any history of color is, above all, a
social history. Pastoureau investigates how the ever-changing role
of blue in society has been reflected in manuscripts, stained
glass, heraldry, clothing, paintings, and popular culture.
Beginning with the almost total absence of blue from ancient
Western art and language, the story moves to medieval Europe. As
people began to associate blue with the Virgin Mary, the color
became a powerful element in church decoration and symbolism. Blue
gained new favor as a royal color in the twelfth century and became
a formidable political and military force during the French
Revolution. As blue triumphed in the modern era, new shades were
created and blue became the color of romance and the blues.
Finally, Pastoureau follows blue into contemporary times, when
military clothing gave way to the everyday uniform of blue jeans
and blue became the universal and unifying color of the Earth as
seen from space. Beautifully illustrated, Blue tells the
intriguing story of our favorite color and the cultures that have
hated it, loved it, and made it essential to some of our greatest
works of art.