Atramentum

Last updated
Atramentaria (inkstands) from Pompeii Inkstands from Pompeii.jpg
Atramentaria (inkstands) from Pompeii

Atramentum or atrament, generally means a very black, usually liquid, substance. For example, an octopus may emit a puff of atrament (see cephalopod ink).[ citation needed ]

In ancient Rome, the term atramentum signified any black colouring substance used for any purpose. The Romans distinguished three principal kinds of atramentum, one called librarium (or scriptorium), another called sutorium, the third tectorium.

Atramentum librarium was the writing ink of Roman times, atramentum sutorium was used by shoemakers for dyeing leather, and atramentum tectorium (or pidorium) was used by painters for some purposes, apparently as a sort of varnish. [1]

Atramentous is a related adjective which means "black as ink". Historically, to atrament something would mean to write something down with ink. The word atrament is related to modern English atrocious: both originate from Latin atrare, which presumably meant to make something black.

According to the Pigment Compendium, [2] atramentum is a historical pigment or ink based on carbon black. The painter Apelles has been credited for making atramentum elephantinum by burning ivory, and Pliny the Elder in his Natural History comments on Apelles' skilled use of black varnish.

In one modern commercial usage of the word, atramentum is a deep black colouring substance manufactured by a reaction of an iron salt with tannic acid (the tannic acid for this purpose is often extracted from oak bark). It is a historically important black dye or pigment fundamentally different from carbon black or black iron oxide pigments. It was also sometimes called "ink stone". It appears greyish-black in water but the colour becomes very deep and lustrous in linseed oil. [3]

The iron-based atramentum called iron gall ink was in popular use from about the 12th to 19th century. It is currently a subject of conservation effort since many valuable collections are written using it but it causes ink corrosion. [4] [5] In Jewish tradition, scribes made use of iron sulfate (chalcanthum) in writing Torah scrolls, which caused the corrosion of the ink. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black</span> Darkest color due to absence or absorption of light

Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have often been used to describe opposites such as good and evil, the Dark Ages versus Age of Enlightenment, and night versus day. Since the Middle Ages, black has been the symbolic color of solemnity and authority, and for this reason it is still commonly worn by judges and magistrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ink</span> Liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes

Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigment</span> Colored material

A pigment is a powder used to add color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly insoluble and chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored substances which are soluble or go into solution at some stage in their use. Dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic. Pigments of prehistoric and historic value include ochre, charcoal, and lapis lazuli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallic acid</span> 3,4,5-Trihydroxybenzoic acid

Gallic acid (also known as 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a trihydroxybenzoic acid with the formula C6H2(OH)3CO2H. It is classified as a phenolic acid. It is found in gallnuts, sumac, witch hazel, tea leaves, oak bark, and other plants. It is a white solid, although samples are typically brown owing to partial oxidation. Salts and esters of gallic acid are termed "gallates".

A colourant/colour additive or colorant/color additive is a substance that is added or applied in order to change the colour of a material or surface. Colourants can be used for many purposes including printing, painting, and for colouring many types of materials such as foods and plastics. Colourants work by absorbing varying amounts of light at different wavelengths of its spectrum, transmitting or reflecting the remaining light in straight lines or scattered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron gall ink</span> Ink made from iron salts and tannic acids from vegetable sources

Iron gall ink is a purple-black or brown-black ink made from iron salts and tannic acids from vegetable sources. It was the standard ink formulation used in Europe for the 1400-year period between the 5th and 19th centuries, remained in widespread use well into the 20th century, and is still sold today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tannic acid</span> Chemical compound

Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, a type of polyphenol. Its weak acidity (pKa around 6) is due to the numerous phenol groups in the structure. The chemical formula for commercial tannic acid is often given as C76H52O46, which corresponds with decagalloyl glucose, but in fact it is a mixture of polygalloyl glucoses or polygalloyl quinic acid esters with the number of galloyl moieties per molecule ranging from 2 up to 12 depending on the plant source used to extract the tannic acid. Commercial tannic acid is usually extracted from any of the following plant parts: Tara pods (Caesalpinia spinosa), gallnuts from Rhus semialata or Quercus infectoria or Sicilian sumac leaves (Rhus coriaria).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anodizing</span> Metal treatment process

Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts.

A corrosion inhibitor or anti-corrosive is a chemical compound added to a liquid or gas to decrease the corrosion rate of a metal that comes into contact with the fluid. The effectiveness of a corrosion inhibitor depends on fluid composition and dynamics. Corrosion inhibitors are common in industry, and also found in over-the-counter products, typically in spray form in combination with a lubricant and sometimes a penetrating oil. They may be added to water to prevent leaching of lead or copper from pipes.

<i>Gevil</i> Type of parchment

Gevil or gewil or is a type of parchment made from full-grain animal hide that has been prepared as a writing material in Jewish scribal documents, in particular a Sefer Torah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hand-colouring of photographs</span> Manually applying colour to black-and-white photographs

Hand-colouring refers to any method of manually adding colour to a monochrome photograph, generally either to heighten the realism of the image or for artistic purposes. Hand-colouring is also known as hand painting or overpainting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fountain pen ink</span> Writing material for fountain pens

Fountain pen ink is a water-based ink intended for use with fountain pens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigrosin</span> Mixture of synthetic black dyes

In staining dyes, nigrosin is a mixture of black synthetic dyes made by heating a mixture of nitrobenzene, aniline, and hydrochloric acid in the presence of copper or iron. Related to induline, it is a mixture of phenazine-based compounds. Its main industrial uses are as a colorant for lacquers and varnishes and in marker pen inks. Sulfonation of nigrosin yields a water-soluble anionic dye, nigrosin WS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corneal tattooing</span> Tattoo located on the cornea of the bearers eye

Corneal tattooing is the practice of tattooing the cornea of the human eye. Reasons for this practice include improvement of cosmetic appearance and the improvement of sight. Many different methods and procedures exist today, and there are varying opinions concerning the safety or success of this practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tattoo ink</span> Ink used for tattoos

Tattoo inks consist of pigments combined with a carrier, used in the process of tattooing to create a tattoo in the skin. These inks are also used for permanent makeup, a form of tattoo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India ink</span> Simple black or colored ink

India ink is a simple black or coloured ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing and outlining, especially when inking comic books and comic strips. India ink is also used in medical applications.

<i>Rubia tinctorum</i> Species of flowering plant (rose madder)

Rubia tinctorum, the rose madder or common madder or dyer's madder, is a herbaceous perennial plant species belonging to the bedstraw and coffee family Rubiaceae.

<i>Quercus infectoria</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus infectoria or the Aleppo oak is a species of oak well known for producing galls that have been traditionally used for centuries in Asia medicinally while also used in softening leather and in making black dye and ink.

Rust converters are chemical solutions or primers that can be applied directly to an iron or iron alloy surface to convert iron oxides (rust) into a protective chemical barrier. These compounds interact with iron oxides, especially iron(III) oxide, converting them into an adherent black layer that is more resistant to moisture and protects the surface from further corrosion. They are sometimes referred to as "rust remover" or "rust killer".

References

  1. William Smith (editor) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1870 (text)
  2. Nicholas Eastaugh, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin, Ruth Siddall, Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary of Historical Pigments, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004.
  3. "KREMER Pigmente: Kremer-made historical pigments". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  4. the ink corrosion website Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine .
  5. Conservation Lab at the Maryland State Archives - Iron Gall Ink
  6. Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah (Hil. Sefer Torah § 271:6).