Tomblike Knell Ultramarine

Greek tymbos, tomb — adjectival suffix -like. As a color modifier, tomblike implies the deep-and-funereal-and-sepulchral quality of Etruscan-and-Egyptian rock-cut royal-tomb interiors, particularly the Valley-of-the-Kings and Cerveteri-necropolis hand-carved chamber-painting walls. Sits at the deep-and-funereal end of the grid, parallel to sepulchral and crypted.

Old English cnyll, funeral-bell. As a color modifier, knell implies a funeral-and-passing-bell quality, the visual register of English-funeral-and-passing-bell slow-and-tolling-funeral mourning-bell-and-bell-tower-tolling slow-and-mourning surfaces under slow-tolling-funeral-bell mourning candlelight. Sits at the modifier-and-time end of the grid, parallel to bell and vesper 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.