Crypted Down Ultramarine

Greek kryptē, hidden chamber — past-participle of crypt. As a color modifier, crypted implies the deep-and-funereal-and-architectural quality of medieval European cathedral-and-basilica royal-crypt-chamber underground architecture, particularly the Saint-Denis and Westminster-Abbey royal-funerary tradition. Sits at the deep-and-funereal end of the grid, parallel to sepulchral and tomblike.

Old Norse dúnn, down / soft-feather. As a color modifier, down implies a soft-feather-undercoat quality, the visual register of eider-and-goose-down hand-plucked-and-cleaned eider-and-goose-down soft-feather-undercoat surfaces under eider-and-goose-down hand-plucked-and-cleaned bedding-and-cushion light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to fluff and fur 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.