UItramarine blue is the inor-ganic pigment derived from the nat-urally occurring mineral,lapis lazuli.The mineral stone itself can be polished and used in a range of ornamental applications.Perhaps the most famous of these is on the death mask of Tutankhamun.Good quality lapis lazuli is found in very few places in the world,with the best occurring in Afghanistan.Since the process to extract a pigment from the mineral was an expensive and complicated one,ultramarine blue was more expensive than gold.The use of this vibrant color became a status symbol and early use is restricted to religious paintings where blue is often an indication of reverence.
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