CYPRUS UMBER
Cyprus is known as home of beautiful Aphrodite, goddess of love. According to the myth, for her sake, her husband Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths, cherished the soil of the isle with a treasure of minerals. From Cyprus (the name derives from cupro, copper in latin) we obtain the finest umbers of earth. Such is this umber, tinted by hydrated iron oxide and manganese oxide in warm golden-brownish hues.
Chemical formula Fe2O3 • nH2O + MnO + Al2O3 • 2SiO2 • 2H2O
Stability to light 7 (scale 1/8)
Specific weight 3,50
For fresco, tempera, oil, watercolour
