Unveiling the Structure of Ancient Lead Pigments Example of “Lead White”

Although the basic lead carbonate naturally occurs as the rare mineral hydrocerussite, it has been produced artificially since the early historical times and extensively used for artistic and cosmetic purposes (the “lead white”; pigment). Lead white is the most important of all lead pigments and, not overlooking the special uses of lime white in wall painting, it is the most important of all white pigments. During the Antiquity, it is used as a face cream and ancient authors often laughed at its abusive use: “Are you an ape with white lead,or the ghost of some old hag returned form the dark borderlands of death?”; - Aristophanes (455-388 BC), Ecclesiazusae (ed. Eugene O’Neill, Jr.), 1049. It was the only white pigment used in European easel painting until the nineteenth century and it became the major component of white building painting. Its fabrication was forbidden in 1915 but it has been used until the middle of the century. This wide use explains why white lead is still involved in the current public health problem concerning children saturnism.