Hooded Mossed Ultramarine

Old English hōd, hood — past-participle of hood, sharing root with German Hut (hat). As a color modifier, hooded implies the deep-and-veiled-and-fabric-shrouded quality of monk-and-friar enveloping-cowled-cloak silhouette in Cistercian-and-Benedictine monastic tradition. Sits at the deep-and-veiled end of the grid, parallel to cloaked and mantled with monastic register.

Old English mos, moss. As a color modifier, mossed implies a moss-covered-and-aged quality, the visual register of English-and-Welsh-mossed-and-lichen-covered moss-and-lichen-covered stone-and-tree-and-cobble mossed-and-lichen-covered surfaces under English-and-Welsh moss-and-lichen-covered atmospheric light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to pitted and limed 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.