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Truly vibrant red was elusive for many years： until a mysterious dye was discovered in Mexico.濃艳的红色许多年都难以获得，直到在墨西哥发现了一种神秘的染料。
Although scarlet is the colour of sin in the Old Testament， the ancient world’s elite was thirsty for red， a symbol of wealth and status. They spent fantastic sums searching for ever more vibrant hues， until Hernán Cortés and the conquistadors discovered an intoxicatingly saturated pigment in the great markets of Tenochtitlan， modern-day Mexico City. Made from the crushed-up cochineal insect， the mysterious dye launched Spain toward its eventual role as an economic superpower and became one of the New World’s primary exports， as a red craze descended on Europe. An exhibition at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes museum reveals the far-reaching impact of the pigment through art history， from the renaissance to modernism.
In medieval and classical Europe， artisans and traders tripped over each other in search of durable saturated colors and—in turn—wealth， amid swathes of weak and watery fabrics. Dyers guilds guarded their secrets closely and performed seemingly magical feats of alchemy to fix colours to wool， silk and cotton. They used roots and resins to create satisfactory yellows， greens and blues. The murex snail was crushed into a dye to create imperial purple cloth worth more than its weight in gold. But truly vibrant red remained elusive.
For many years， the most common red in Europe came from the Ottoman Empire， where the ‘Turkey red’ process used the root of the rubia plant. European dyers tried desperately to reproduce the results from the East， but succeeded only partially， as the Ottoman process took months and involved a pestilent mix of cow dung， rancid olive oil and bullocks’ blood， according to Amy Butler Greenfield in her book， A Perfect Red.
Dyers also used Brazilwood， lac and lichens， but the resulting colours were usually underwhelming， and the processes often resulted in brownish or orange reds that faded quickly. For royalty and elite， St John’s Blood and Armenian red （dating back as far as the 8th Century BCE， according to Butler Greenfield）， created the most vibrant saturated reds available in Europe until the 16th Century. But， made from different varieties of Porphyrophora root parasites， their production was laborious and availability was scarce， even at the highest prices.
Mesoamerican peoples in southern Mexico had started using the cochineal bug as early as 2000 BCE， long before the arrival of the conquistadors， according to Mexican textile expert Quetzalina Sanchez. Indigenous people in Puebla， Tlaxcala and Oaxaca had systems for breeding and engineering the cochineal bugs for ideal traits and the pigment was used to create paints for codices and murals， to dye cloth and feathers， and even as medicine. Cochineal in the New World
When the conquistadors arrived in Mexico City， the headquarters of the Aztec empire， the red colour was everywhere. Outlying villages paid dues to their Aztec rulers in kilos of cochineal and rolls of blood-red cloth. “Scarlet is the colour of blood and the grana from cochineal achieved that [...] the colour always had a meaning， sometimes magic other times religious，” Sanchez told the BBC.
Cortés immediately recognized the riches of Mexico， which he related in several letters to King Charles V. About the great marketplace of Tenochtitlan， which was “twice as large as that of Salamanca，” he wrote， “They also sell skeins of different kinds of spun cotton in all colours， so that it seems quite like one of the silk markets of Granada， although it is on a greater scale; also as many different colours for painters as can be found in Spain and of as excellent hues.”
First-hand accounts indicate that Cortés wasn’t overly smitten with cochineal， more concerned instead with plundering gold and silver. Back in Spain， the king was pressed to make ends meet and hold together his enormous dominion in relative peace， so， although he was at first unconvinced by the promise of America， he became fascinated by the exotic tales and saw in cochineal an opportunity to prop up the crown’s coffers. By 1523， cochineal pigment made its way back to Spain and caught the attention of the king who wrote to Cortés about exporting the dyestuff back to Europe， writes Butler.
“Through absurd laws and decrees [the Spanish] monopolised the grana trade，” says Sanchez. “They obligated the Indians to produce as much as possible.” The native Mesoamericans were paid pennies on the dollar—while the Spaniards “profited enormously as intermediaries.”
Red in art history
Dye from the cochineal bug was ten times as potent as St John’s Blood and produced 30 times more dye per ounce than Armenian red， according to Butler. So when European dyers began to experiment with the pigment， they were delighted by its potential. Most importantly， it was the brightest and most saturated red they had ever seen. By the middle of the 16th Century it was being used across Europe.
In the Mexican Red exhibition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes， the introduction of cochineal red to the European palette is illustrated in baroque paintings from the beginning of the 17th Century， after the pigment was already a booming industry across Europe and the world. López de Arteaga’s undated work The Incredulity of Saint Thomas pales in comparison to Caravaggio’s version of the same work， where St Thomas’s consternation and amazement is palpable in the skin of his furrowed forehead. But the red smock worn by Christ in López de Arteaga’s painting， denoting his holiness， absolutely pops off the canvas. Both artists employed cochineal， the introduction of which helped to establish the dramatic contrast that characterised the baroque style.
A few steps away， a portrait of Isabella Brandt （1610） by Rubens shows the versatility of paint made from cochineal. The wall behind the woman is depicted in a deep， glowing red， from which she emerges within a slight aura of light. The bible in her hand was also rendered in exquisite detail from cochineal red in Rubens’ unmistakable mastery of his brush， which makes his subjects feel as alive as if they were in front of you.
Moving forward toward modernism—it wasn’t until the middle of the 19th Century that cochineal was replaced by synthetic alternatives as the pre-eminent red dyestuff in the world—impressionist painters continued to make use of the heavenly red hues imported from Mexico. At the Palacio de Bellas Artes， works by Paul Gauguin， Auguste Renoir and Vincent van Gogh have all been analysed and tested positive for cochineal. Like Rubens， Renoir’s subjects seem to be alive on the canvas， but as an impressionist his portraits dissolved into energetic abstractions. Gauguin also used colour， especially red， to create playful accents， but neither compared to the saturation achieved by Van Gogh. His piece， The Bedroom （1888）， on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago， puts a full stop on the exhibition with a single burning-hot spot of bright red.
After synthetic pigments became popular， outside of Mexico， the red dye was mass-produced as industrial food colouring—its main use today.
盡管猩红色是《圣经·旧约》中代表罪恶的颜色，但古代世界的精英仍渴求红色，因为红色象征财富和地位。他们耗费数目惊人的钱财不断搜寻更加鲜艳的红色，直到以埃尔南·科尔特斯为首的西班牙征服者在特诺奇提特兰（今天的墨西哥城）的大市场上发现了一种饱和度高得迷人的颜料。这种神秘染料由碾碎的胭脂虫制成，推动西班牙最终成为经济超级大国，染料本身则成为新世界主要的出口产品之一，当时一股红色热潮席卷欧洲。墨西哥城美术宫博物馆的一场展览揭示了这一染料对从文艺复兴至现代主义的艺术史产生的深远影响。
在中世纪和古典时期的欧洲，工匠和商人争先恐后，试图从大量松软而湿润的纺织面料中寻找持久的饱和色，进而寻求财富。染工行会严守秘密，施展炼金术般看似神奇的手法，给羊毛、丝绸和棉花染上颜色。他们利用树根和树脂制造出令人满意的黄色、绿色和蓝色。由骨螺蜗牛研磨而成的染料专用于生产帝紫色（皇室紫）布匹，其价值超过等重的金子。但真正鲜艳的红色仍无法获得。
多年间，欧洲最常见的红色来自奥斯曼帝国，这种“土耳其红”由茜草植物的根加工而来。艾米·巴特勒·格林菲尔德在她的著作《完美红色》中提到，欧洲染工竭力还原产自东方的成果，却只取得了部分成功，因为奥斯曼的这种染料加工过程耗时数月，还需要混合牛粪、腐臭的橄榄油和小公牛的血，这种混合物具有危害性。 染工也试过用巴西木、虫漆和地衣，但提取的颜色总是不令人满意，加工之后得到的经常是褐红或橘红色，很快就褪色了。对皇室和精英而言，“圣约翰之血”和“亚美尼亚红”（据巴特勒·格林菲尔德说，最远可追溯到公元前8世纪）是16世纪之前在欧洲能得到的最鲜艳饱满的红色。但是，因为原料是不同种类的蚧属根部寄生虫，生产过程极为艰难，产量极其有限，即便以最高价收购仍十分难求。
据墨西哥纺织专家奎扎利娜·桑切斯介绍，墨西哥南部的中美洲诸民族早在公元前2000年，也就是西班牙征服者到来很久以前，就已开始使用胭脂虫了。普埃布拉、特拉斯卡拉和瓦哈卡的原住民有成套的养殖和培育体系，可以让胭脂虫具备某些理想特征。由此制成的颜料可用来给古抄本和壁画上色，染布料和羽毛，甚至当作药物。
新世界的胭脂虫红
当西班牙征服者到达阿兹特克帝国的首府墨西哥城时，这种红色无处不在。边远的村庄以数公斤的胭脂虫和成捆的血红色布料向他们的阿兹特克统治者纳税。“猩红色是血的颜色，从胭脂虫提取的红色就是这样的……这种颜色总有个寓意，有时是魔法的，有时是宗教的。”桑切斯告诉BBC。
科尔特斯立即意识到了墨西哥蕴藏的财富，并在给国王查理五世的几封信中表明了这一点。关于特诺奇提特兰“相当于萨拉曼卡两倍大”的大市场，他写道：“那里也销售颜色各异、种类繁多的棉纱，因此看起来很像格拉纳达的某个丝绸市场，只是规模更大。那里还有和西班牙一样多的各色绘画颜料，并且和西班牙的一样好。”
一手资料显示，科尔特斯对胭脂虫并未过多关注，而更关心如何掠夺金银。当时在西班牙国内，国王不得不量入为出，使他的广大疆域保持相对和平。因此，虽然起初他对美洲的前景持怀疑态度，但还是对异国传闻产生了兴趣，意识到可以用胭脂虫红来充实皇家金库。巴特勒写道，到1523年，胭脂虫红颜料被带回西班牙，引起了国王的注意，国王写信给科尔特斯，要他把这种染料出口到欧洲。
桑切斯说：“（西班牙人）用荒唐的法律和法令垄断了这项红颜料贸易，他们强迫印第安人开足马力生产。”那些本土中美洲人报酬微薄，而西班牙人却“以中间商的身份获利巨大”。
艺术史中的红色
据巴特勒记载，从胭脂虫中提取的染料效力是“圣约翰之血”的10倍，每盎司的染料产出是“亚美尼亚红”的30倍。因此，当欧洲染工开始尝试使用这种颜料时，他们因其巨大的潜力欣喜不已。最重要的是，这是他们见过的最鲜艳和最饱满的红色。到16世纪中期，这一染料已经在欧洲广泛使用。
在美术宫博物馆的“墨西哥红”展区，追溯至17世纪初的巴洛克式绘画展示了胭脂虫红引入欧洲调色板的整个过程，而胭脂虫红贸易此前业已在全欧及全球范围内蓬勃发展。
洛佩兹·德阿尔特加未标日期的作品《圣托马斯的怀疑》在与卡拉瓦乔同名画作比较之下相形见绌。卡拉瓦乔笔下的圣托马斯，惶恐与惊讶通过皱起的前额表露无疑。但在洛佩兹·德阿尔特加的画作中，基督身着的红罩衫（意谓神圣性）与画作整体完全不搭。两位艺术家都使用了胭脂虫红，这种颜料的引入有助于营造巴洛克风格中特有的戏剧性反差。
距该画几步之遥的是鲁本斯的《伊莎贝拉·勃兰特的肖像》（1610），这幅画显示了由胭脂虫制成的染料所具備的广泛用途。女子背后的墙壁被涂成浓艳的红色，于是她便浮现在微妙的光晕之中。鲁本斯还以娴熟的技法用胭脂虫红一丝不苟地渲染了她手中的圣经，这让画中的人和物都栩栩如生，仿佛现身在你面前。
接着进入现代主义。直到19世纪中叶，胭脂虫红作为世界上最卓越红色染料的地位才被合成颜料取代，而印象派画家则继续使用这种从墨西哥进口的无与伦比的红色颜料。美术宫里展出的保罗·高更、奥古斯特·雷诺阿和文森特·梵高的画作都被分析检测出胭脂虫红的成分。像鲁本斯一样，雷诺阿笔下的人物似乎在画布中呼之欲出，但作为印象派，他的肖像画分解成多个活力四射的抽象元素。高更也用色彩尤其是红色来突出俏皮的氛围。但与梵高画作的饱和度相比，他们两人均稍逊一筹。从芝加哥艺术学院借展的梵高作品《卧室》（1888），以一个鲜艳灼人的红点为整场展出画上了句号。
合成颜料流行开来之后，在墨西哥以外的地区，这种红色染料作为工业食用色素被大规模生产——这是它今天的主要用途。
（译者是“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）
Although scarlet is the colour of sin in the Old Testament， the ancient world’s elite was thirsty for red， a symbol of wealth and status. They spent fantastic sums searching for ever more vibrant hues， until Hernán Cortés and the conquistadors discovered an intoxicatingly saturated pigment in the great markets of Tenochtitlan， modern-day Mexico City. Made from the crushed-up cochineal insect， the mysterious dye launched Spain toward its eventual role as an economic superpower and became one of the New World’s primary exports， as a red craze descended on Europe. An exhibition at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes museum reveals the far-reaching impact of the pigment through art history， from the renaissance to modernism.
In medieval and classical Europe， artisans and traders tripped over each other in search of durable saturated colors and—in turn—wealth， amid swathes of weak and watery fabrics. Dyers guilds guarded their secrets closely and performed seemingly magical feats of alchemy to fix colours to wool， silk and cotton. They used roots and resins to create satisfactory yellows， greens and blues. The murex snail was crushed into a dye to create imperial purple cloth worth more than its weight in gold. But truly vibrant red remained elusive.
For many years， the most common red in Europe came from the Ottoman Empire， where the ‘Turkey red’ process used the root of the rubia plant. European dyers tried desperately to reproduce the results from the East， but succeeded only partially， as the Ottoman process took months and involved a pestilent mix of cow dung， rancid olive oil and bullocks’ blood， according to Amy Butler Greenfield in her book， A Perfect Red.
Dyers also used Brazilwood， lac and lichens， but the resulting colours were usually underwhelming， and the processes often resulted in brownish or orange reds that faded quickly. For royalty and elite， St John’s Blood and Armenian red （dating back as far as the 8th Century BCE， according to Butler Greenfield）， created the most vibrant saturated reds available in Europe until the 16th Century. But， made from different varieties of Porphyrophora root parasites， their production was laborious and availability was scarce， even at the highest prices.
Mesoamerican peoples in southern Mexico had started using the cochineal bug as early as 2000 BCE， long before the arrival of the conquistadors， according to Mexican textile expert Quetzalina Sanchez. Indigenous people in Puebla， Tlaxcala and Oaxaca had systems for breeding and engineering the cochineal bugs for ideal traits and the pigment was used to create paints for codices and murals， to dye cloth and feathers， and even as medicine. Cochineal in the New World
When the conquistadors arrived in Mexico City， the headquarters of the Aztec empire， the red colour was everywhere. Outlying villages paid dues to their Aztec rulers in kilos of cochineal and rolls of blood-red cloth. “Scarlet is the colour of blood and the grana from cochineal achieved that [...] the colour always had a meaning， sometimes magic other times religious，” Sanchez told the BBC.
Cortés immediately recognized the riches of Mexico， which he related in several letters to King Charles V. About the great marketplace of Tenochtitlan， which was “twice as large as that of Salamanca，” he wrote， “They also sell skeins of different kinds of spun cotton in all colours， so that it seems quite like one of the silk markets of Granada， although it is on a greater scale; also as many different colours for painters as can be found in Spain and of as excellent hues.”
First-hand accounts indicate that Cortés wasn’t overly smitten with cochineal， more concerned instead with plundering gold and silver. Back in Spain， the king was pressed to make ends meet and hold together his enormous dominion in relative peace， so， although he was at first unconvinced by the promise of America， he became fascinated by the exotic tales and saw in cochineal an opportunity to prop up the crown’s coffers. By 1523， cochineal pigment made its way back to Spain and caught the attention of the king who wrote to Cortés about exporting the dyestuff back to Europe， writes Butler.
“Through absurd laws and decrees [the Spanish] monopolised the grana trade，” says Sanchez. “They obligated the Indians to produce as much as possible.” The native Mesoamericans were paid pennies on the dollar—while the Spaniards “profited enormously as intermediaries.”
Red in art history
Dye from the cochineal bug was ten times as potent as St John’s Blood and produced 30 times more dye per ounce than Armenian red， according to Butler. So when European dyers began to experiment with the pigment， they were delighted by its potential. Most importantly， it was the brightest and most saturated red they had ever seen. By the middle of the 16th Century it was being used across Europe.
In the Mexican Red exhibition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes， the introduction of cochineal red to the European palette is illustrated in baroque paintings from the beginning of the 17th Century， after the pigment was already a booming industry across Europe and the world. López de Arteaga’s undated work The Incredulity of Saint Thomas pales in comparison to Caravaggio’s version of the same work， where St Thomas’s consternation and amazement is palpable in the skin of his furrowed forehead. But the red smock worn by Christ in López de Arteaga’s painting， denoting his holiness， absolutely pops off the canvas. Both artists employed cochineal， the introduction of which helped to establish the dramatic contrast that characterised the baroque style.
A few steps away， a portrait of Isabella Brandt （1610） by Rubens shows the versatility of paint made from cochineal. The wall behind the woman is depicted in a deep， glowing red， from which she emerges within a slight aura of light. The bible in her hand was also rendered in exquisite detail from cochineal red in Rubens’ unmistakable mastery of his brush， which makes his subjects feel as alive as if they were in front of you.
Moving forward toward modernism—it wasn’t until the middle of the 19th Century that cochineal was replaced by synthetic alternatives as the pre-eminent red dyestuff in the world—impressionist painters continued to make use of the heavenly red hues imported from Mexico. At the Palacio de Bellas Artes， works by Paul Gauguin， Auguste Renoir and Vincent van Gogh have all been analysed and tested positive for cochineal. Like Rubens， Renoir’s subjects seem to be alive on the canvas， but as an impressionist his portraits dissolved into energetic abstractions. Gauguin also used colour， especially red， to create playful accents， but neither compared to the saturation achieved by Van Gogh. His piece， The Bedroom （1888）， on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago， puts a full stop on the exhibition with a single burning-hot spot of bright red.
After synthetic pigments became popular， outside of Mexico， the red dye was mass-produced as industrial food colouring—its main use today.
盡管猩红色是《圣经·旧约》中代表罪恶的颜色，但古代世界的精英仍渴求红色，因为红色象征财富和地位。他们耗费数目惊人的钱财不断搜寻更加鲜艳的红色，直到以埃尔南·科尔特斯为首的西班牙征服者在特诺奇提特兰（今天的墨西哥城）的大市场上发现了一种饱和度高得迷人的颜料。这种神秘染料由碾碎的胭脂虫制成，推动西班牙最终成为经济超级大国，染料本身则成为新世界主要的出口产品之一，当时一股红色热潮席卷欧洲。墨西哥城美术宫博物馆的一场展览揭示了这一染料对从文艺复兴至现代主义的艺术史产生的深远影响。
在中世纪和古典时期的欧洲，工匠和商人争先恐后，试图从大量松软而湿润的纺织面料中寻找持久的饱和色，进而寻求财富。染工行会严守秘密，施展炼金术般看似神奇的手法，给羊毛、丝绸和棉花染上颜色。他们利用树根和树脂制造出令人满意的黄色、绿色和蓝色。由骨螺蜗牛研磨而成的染料专用于生产帝紫色（皇室紫）布匹，其价值超过等重的金子。但真正鲜艳的红色仍无法获得。
多年间，欧洲最常见的红色来自奥斯曼帝国，这种“土耳其红”由茜草植物的根加工而来。艾米·巴特勒·格林菲尔德在她的著作《完美红色》中提到，欧洲染工竭力还原产自东方的成果，却只取得了部分成功，因为奥斯曼的这种染料加工过程耗时数月，还需要混合牛粪、腐臭的橄榄油和小公牛的血，这种混合物具有危害性。 染工也试过用巴西木、虫漆和地衣，但提取的颜色总是不令人满意，加工之后得到的经常是褐红或橘红色，很快就褪色了。对皇室和精英而言，“圣约翰之血”和“亚美尼亚红”（据巴特勒·格林菲尔德说，最远可追溯到公元前8世纪）是16世纪之前在欧洲能得到的最鲜艳饱满的红色。但是，因为原料是不同种类的蚧属根部寄生虫，生产过程极为艰难，产量极其有限，即便以最高价收购仍十分难求。
据墨西哥纺织专家奎扎利娜·桑切斯介绍，墨西哥南部的中美洲诸民族早在公元前2000年，也就是西班牙征服者到来很久以前，就已开始使用胭脂虫了。普埃布拉、特拉斯卡拉和瓦哈卡的原住民有成套的养殖和培育体系，可以让胭脂虫具备某些理想特征。由此制成的颜料可用来给古抄本和壁画上色，染布料和羽毛，甚至当作药物。
新世界的胭脂虫红
当西班牙征服者到达阿兹特克帝国的首府墨西哥城时，这种红色无处不在。边远的村庄以数公斤的胭脂虫和成捆的血红色布料向他们的阿兹特克统治者纳税。“猩红色是血的颜色，从胭脂虫提取的红色就是这样的……这种颜色总有个寓意，有时是魔法的，有时是宗教的。”桑切斯告诉BBC。
科尔特斯立即意识到了墨西哥蕴藏的财富，并在给国王查理五世的几封信中表明了这一点。关于特诺奇提特兰“相当于萨拉曼卡两倍大”的大市场，他写道：“那里也销售颜色各异、种类繁多的棉纱，因此看起来很像格拉纳达的某个丝绸市场，只是规模更大。那里还有和西班牙一样多的各色绘画颜料，并且和西班牙的一样好。”
一手资料显示，科尔特斯对胭脂虫并未过多关注，而更关心如何掠夺金银。当时在西班牙国内，国王不得不量入为出，使他的广大疆域保持相对和平。因此，虽然起初他对美洲的前景持怀疑态度，但还是对异国传闻产生了兴趣，意识到可以用胭脂虫红来充实皇家金库。巴特勒写道，到1523年，胭脂虫红颜料被带回西班牙，引起了国王的注意，国王写信给科尔特斯，要他把这种染料出口到欧洲。
桑切斯说：“（西班牙人）用荒唐的法律和法令垄断了这项红颜料贸易，他们强迫印第安人开足马力生产。”那些本土中美洲人报酬微薄，而西班牙人却“以中间商的身份获利巨大”。
艺术史中的红色
据巴特勒记载，从胭脂虫中提取的染料效力是“圣约翰之血”的10倍，每盎司的染料产出是“亚美尼亚红”的30倍。因此，当欧洲染工开始尝试使用这种颜料时，他们因其巨大的潜力欣喜不已。最重要的是，这是他们见过的最鲜艳和最饱满的红色。到16世纪中期，这一染料已经在欧洲广泛使用。
在美术宫博物馆的“墨西哥红”展区，追溯至17世纪初的巴洛克式绘画展示了胭脂虫红引入欧洲调色板的整个过程，而胭脂虫红贸易此前业已在全欧及全球范围内蓬勃发展。
洛佩兹·德阿尔特加未标日期的作品《圣托马斯的怀疑》在与卡拉瓦乔同名画作比较之下相形见绌。卡拉瓦乔笔下的圣托马斯，惶恐与惊讶通过皱起的前额表露无疑。但在洛佩兹·德阿尔特加的画作中，基督身着的红罩衫（意谓神圣性）与画作整体完全不搭。两位艺术家都使用了胭脂虫红，这种颜料的引入有助于营造巴洛克风格中特有的戏剧性反差。
距该画几步之遥的是鲁本斯的《伊莎贝拉·勃兰特的肖像》（1610），这幅画显示了由胭脂虫制成的染料所具備的广泛用途。女子背后的墙壁被涂成浓艳的红色，于是她便浮现在微妙的光晕之中。鲁本斯还以娴熟的技法用胭脂虫红一丝不苟地渲染了她手中的圣经，这让画中的人和物都栩栩如生，仿佛现身在你面前。
接着进入现代主义。直到19世纪中叶，胭脂虫红作为世界上最卓越红色染料的地位才被合成颜料取代，而印象派画家则继续使用这种从墨西哥进口的无与伦比的红色颜料。美术宫里展出的保罗·高更、奥古斯特·雷诺阿和文森特·梵高的画作都被分析检测出胭脂虫红的成分。像鲁本斯一样，雷诺阿笔下的人物似乎在画布中呼之欲出，但作为印象派，他的肖像画分解成多个活力四射的抽象元素。高更也用色彩尤其是红色来突出俏皮的氛围。但与梵高画作的饱和度相比，他们两人均稍逊一筹。从芝加哥艺术学院借展的梵高作品《卧室》（1888），以一个鲜艳灼人的红点为整场展出画上了句号。
合成颜料流行开来之后，在墨西哥以外的地区，这种红色染料作为工业食用色素被大规模生产——这是它今天的主要用途。
（译者是“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）