Venetian Red

Description

Venetian red is a natural, handmade single earth pigment made through a ancient historical process of grinding raw red earth. Venetian red is an earth pigment from Verona, Italy, and is prized for its deep, warm red hue. Venetian Red has been used for centuries due to its durability, opacity, and excellent lightfastness, making it a staple in the artist’s palette. 

Unlike synthetic reds, Venetian Red offers a natural warmth and subtle tonal variation that gives paintings an organic and classical quality. It is an opaque pigment with strong covering power, making it highly effective for underpainting, fresco work, and oil painting techniques. Its richness in iron oxide provides a strong, earthy red that harmonizes beautifully with other natural earth pigments.

History

Venetian Red has been an essential pigment for artists since antiquity. Derived from iron-rich ochres, its use dates back to prehistoric cave paintings, where early humans utilized red earth for both artistic and ritualistic purposes.

During the Renaissance, Venetian Red was widely used in frescoes and oil paintings. The pigment was particularly favored by Italian masters for its warm undertones and ability to create naturalistic flesh tones. Artists such as Titian and Veronese employed it in their works, using its subtle depth to enhance drapery, backgrounds, and skin tones. In the pictured artwork 'The Little Street' by Johannes Vermeer, Venetian Red is used throughout the buildings as well as the underpainting both to create rich reds and oranges in combination with Madder Lake glazes as well as to add subtle warmth from the underpainting and mixes.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, Venetian Red became a standard in European art academies, frequently used in underpainting techniques due to its stability and compatibility with various binders. Today, it remains a favorite among classical and contemporary painters for its timeless, earthy elegance.

Health and Safety

Precautions: 
Keep out of reach of children and pets.
Do not consume.
Not for cosmetic or food usage.
Do not spray apply. 
For further health information contact a poison control center.
Use care when handling dry pigments and avoid dust formation.
Use particular caution with fibrous, fine, or toxic pigments. 
Do not eat, drink, or smoke near dry pigments. Avoid breathing in pigment dust and use a NIOSH-certified dust respirator with sufficient rating for dry pigment. 
Wash hands immediately after use or handling. 
If dust is likely, always wear protective clothing to keep out of eyes, lungs, off skin, and out of any contact as well as keep area ventilated.
This product may contain chemicals known by the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm.
Warnings and bottle information are abbreviated.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Natural (Iron Oxide) from minerals (Hematite Fe₂O₃) (Italy)  
Suitable Mediums: Watercolor, Oil, Tempera, Acrylic  
Lightfastness: Best  
Opacity: Opaque  
Other Names: Red Ochre, Verona Red, Ferric Oxide Red , Red Earth, Rouge Earth, Caput mortuum
Color Index Code: PR102
Image: 'The Little Street' by Johannes Vermeer from the Rijksmuseum