Sepulchral Toltec Ultramarine

Latin sepulcrālis, of the burial-place — adjectival form of sepulcrum. As a color modifier, sepulchral implies the deep funereal-and-formal darkness of Holy-Sepulchre-and-rock-cut royal-tomb interiors of medieval-and-Renaissance Christendom. Sits at the deep-and-funereal end of the grid, parallel to entombed and funereal in tone, both literary and architectural.

Nahuatl Tolteca, Toltec. As a color modifier, toltec implies a Tula-and-Mesoamerican quality, the visual register of Toltec-civilization-of-Tula post-Classic Mesoamerican hand-carved Atlantean-warrior-and-feathered-serpent stone-monumental surfaces under Tula-Hidalgo-and-Chichen-Itza post-Classic Mesoamerican high-altitude light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to aztec and olmec 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.