Naples Yellow Pigment

Description

Naples Yellow is a historic, opaque yellow pigment made from lead antimonate (Pb₂Sb₂O₇). It produces a warm, slightly orange-leaning yellow that ranges from pale cream to deep golden depending on preparation. Its strong opacity, covering power, and permanence made it one of the most important yellows in European painting for centuries.

In watercolors, it gives a dense, matte wash; in oils and tempera it provides rich, buttery highlights and blends beautifully with earths and reds for naturalistic skin tones. Unlike organic yellows, Naples Yellow retains its warmth and body, making it invaluable for underpainting and glazing.

History

Naples Yellow is one of the oldest known synthetic pigments, with origins in the Bronze Age. It was used in Egyptian faience and Mesopotamian glazes, but its systematic preparation as a painter's pigment became widespread in the Renaissance.

By the 15th-17th centuries, it was one of the most common yellows in Europe, employed by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, and Watteau. It was especially prized for portraiture, fresco, and oil painting due to its stability and versatility in mixing. In the pictured artwork "Corner of a Cafe Concert" by Edouard Manet, Naples Yellow is used for the rich yellow of the shutters, the warm woods, and mixed throughout with Chrome Yellow and Lemon Yellow to create tinges of sunlight.

In the 19th century, however, Naples Yellow began to decline in use, gradually replaced by safer pigments such as chrome yellow (lead chromate), cadmium yellow, and modern synthetics. Today, authentic lead antimonate Naples Yellow is rare, manufactured primarily for conservation and historical authenticity. Modern Naples Yellow hues in commercial paints are typically mixtures of titanium white, cadmium yellow, and other pigments.

CONTAINS LEAD. WEAR P100 FULL FACE OR HALF FACE PLUS GOGGLES RESPIRATOR. DO NOT SWALLOW OR INHALE. WEAR GLOVES AND DO NOT ALLOW IT TO BE ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN. P95 IS NOT SUFFICIENT.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Synthetic Inorganic

Chemical Composition: Pb₂Sb₂O₇ (Lead Antimonate)

Suitable Mediums: Watercolor, Oil, Tempera, Acrylic, Encaustic, Cold Wax, Casein, Milk, Swedish Flour, Lime / Fresco, Ceramics

Lightfastness: Excellent

Opacity: Opaque

Other Names: Giallolino, Jaune d'Antimoine, Antimony Yellow, True Naples Yellow

Color Index Code: PY41

Pictured Artwork: "Corner of a Cafe Concert" by Edouard Manet from the National Gallery