Literary notes about lapis lazuli (AI summary)
In literature, lapis lazuli is not only treasured as a precious stone but also revered as an emblem of an exquisite, enduring blue. Writers invoke its image to suggest a sublime, almost celestial hue—its deep, vibrant blue serving both as inspiration for the finest ultramarine pigments [1, 2] and as a metaphor for clarity and intensity in nature and human features alike. Characters’ complexions, eyes, and even entire seascapes have been compared to the unmistakable blue of lapis lazuli, as when a face is said to possess “the hue of lapis lazuli” [3, 4, 5] or when a lagoon is described as a “veined setting of lapis lazuli” [6]. Such evocative comparisons underscore the color’s association with luxury, permanence, and a transcendent beauty that captures the imagination.
- The blue is ultramarine, made from a precious stone, the lapis lazuli of the Egyptians, which never fades.
— from The Mentor: Beautiful Buildings of the World, Serial no. 33 by Clarence Ward - Genuine Ultramarine is a beautiful permanent colour obtained by grinding the lapis lazuli .
— from Illumination and Its Development in the Present Day by Sidney Farnsworth - In some respects that complexion resembled the hue of gold and in some that of the lapis lazuli.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 - Certainly not for houses," I answered, laughing, and looking straight into those eyes of lapis lazuli and then away.
— from To-morrow? by Victoria Cross - I did so and gazed into its strange eyes, which some devilry of man's had turned to a lapis lazuli blue.
— from The Wanderings of a Spiritualist by Arthur Conan Doyle - The great lagoon looked like a veined setting of lapis lazuli.
— from Dinsmore Ely, One Who Served by Dinsmore Ely
