Funereal Column Ultramarine

Latin fūnerālis, of the funeral — adjectival form of fūnus (funeral procession). As a color modifier, funereal implies the deep-mourning-and-formal darkness of Victorian-mourning black-textile and requiem-mass deep-violet vestment of Western Christian liturgical tradition. Sits at the deep-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to sepulchral and mourning in usage.

Latin columna, column. As a color modifier, column implies a vertical-Doric-and-Ionic-and-Corinthian quality, the visual register of Greek-and-Roman-Column hand-cut Doric-Ionic-Corinthian fluted-and-capital classical-column architectural surfaces under Greek-and-Roman classical-column architectural light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to pillar and plinth in usage.

The pigment ground from lapis lazuli — the Afghan mineral imported through Venice in the late Middle Ages, more expensive by weight than gold during the Renaissance. The color refers to a freshly mixed ultramarine pigment in linseed oil: a saturated, slightly violet-shifted deep blue with the matte finish of micron-ground rock. Deeper than cobalt, cooler than royal, with the art-historical weight of the blue Vermeer reserved for Mary's robe.