Heinrich Diesbach
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Diesbach was a German painter and colormaker known for his accidental discovery of a method for making a blue known as Prussian blue
, AKA iron blue, Berlin
blue.
In 1704 Diesbach was working in the laboratory of the alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel in Berlin
. Using iron sulphate and potash
to create cochineal
red lake
, he used potash that was mixed with animal oil. The result was a very pale red which he concentrated to purple, later a deep blue. While neither one of them knew what exactly happened the formula was the first synthetic paint ever made.
Prussian blue
Prussian blue is a dark blue pigment with the idealized formula Fe718. Another name for the color Prussian blue is Berlin blue or, in painting, Parisian blue. Turnbull's blue is the same substance but is made from different reagents....
, AKA iron blue, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
blue.
In 1704 Diesbach was working in the laboratory of the alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Using iron sulphate and potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
to create cochineal
Cochineal
The cochineal is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-colour dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico, this insect lives on cacti from the genus Opuntia, feeding on plant moisture and...
red lake
Lake pigment
A lake pigment is a pigment manufactured by precipitating a dye with an inert binder, usually a metallic salt. The word lake is a homonym of lake as body of water and does not refer to it....
, he used potash that was mixed with animal oil. The result was a very pale red which he concentrated to purple, later a deep blue. While neither one of them knew what exactly happened the formula was the first synthetic paint ever made.