Lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli is a deep-blue metamorphic rock composed mainly of lazurite, with calcite and pyrite among its common inclusions. It has been prized as a gemstone and ground into the pigment ultramarine.

Lazurite: A blue feldspathoid mineral whose sulfur-bearing structure gives lapis lazuli its characteristic color. It is the principal blue mineral in the rock.
Sar-e-Sang: A high-altitude lapis lazuli mining district in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan region. Its mines supplied lapis lazuli for millennia.
Medieval painting: Painting produced in Europe during the Middle Ages, often using tempera and mineral pigments. Artists used lapis-derived ultramarine for especially significant passages.
Mask of Tutankhamun: The gold funerary mask of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, found in his tomb in 1922. Lapis lazuli forms part of its inlaid blue details.
Calcite: A calcium carbonate mineral that occurs in many rocks and often forms pale veins or patches. Its white veins contrast sharply with lapis lazuli’s blue areas.
Badakhshan: A mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan, historically known for its lapis lazuli deposits. The region contains the ancient Sar-e-Sang source.
Renaissance art: Art made during the European Renaissance, marked by renewed study of classical forms and naturalistic representation. Lapis-derived ultramarine became a conspicuous luxury material in Renaissance commissions.
Standard of Ur: An inlaid object from the Royal Cemetery of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia, dating to the third millennium BCE. Its blue lapis inlays were combined with shell and red limestone.
Pyrite: An iron sulfide mineral with a metallic, brassy-gold appearance. Its gold-colored flecks are a familiar feature of many lapis specimens.
Lapis lazuli mining: The extraction of lapis lazuli from mineral deposits, often in remote mountainous terrain. Mining at difficult sites shaped the rock’s scarcity and value.

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