Lapis Lazuli with its distinctive ultramarine hue, has been widely popular since 3300–1900 BC and was highly regarded during the Pharaoh era in ancient Egypt.
At the end of the Middle Ages, Lapis Lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments.
It was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque Era, and was often reserved for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary
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