Eclipsed Cycle Ultramarine

Greek ékleipsis, abandonment — past-participle of eclipse. As a color modifier, eclipsed implies the deep occulting darkness of a celestial-body-blocked light-source, where umbral-and-penumbral shadows fall on the hue. Sits at the deep-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to occluded with astronomical connotation.

Greek kýklos, circle / cycle. As a color modifier, cycle implies a repeating-and-circular-time quality, the visual register of seasonal-and-lunar-and-astronomical repeating-and-cyclic period-marker celestial-and-natural cycle-and-rhythm surfaces under repeating cyclic-and-seasonal light. Sits at the modifier-and-time end of the grid, parallel to phase and year 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.