Seeing red: Stradivari’s special instrument varnish

The following is an extract from the article ’Stradivari Varnish: Scarlet Fever’ from the September 2018 issue. To read the full article, click here

Human beings see the colour red and its variations better than any other mammal. The significance of red in our lives goes back to the Neanderthals, who buried their dead in red ochre. Every human culture has assigned some version of power to this colour. In ancient China it was the colour of health and prosperity. In the Arab world it signified divine favour and vitality. The Roman Empire was ruled by a class whose name, coccinati, literally meant ‘those who wear red’. It is the colour of kings and queens, cardinals and demons; in 1559 Cosimo de Medici memorably stated, ‘A gentleman can be made with two yards of red cloth.’ In medieval Europe the dye and cloth trades flourished as they supplied the rich and powerful. And throughout our history we have sought a better source for red dye: these included ochre, madder, orchil, lac, oak-kermes (vermilion) and St John’s Blood (Polish cochineal).