Genuine Toltec Verdigris

Latin genuinus, natural, innate — used as a color modifier since the sixteenth century for hues that read as authentic rather than imitated. Genuine indigo, genuine ochre: moderate-to-high saturation combined with the optical impression of a hue from real pigment rather than synthetic dye. Sits at the crisp-bucket alongside true and honest.

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 basic copper carbonate that forms on weathered copper and bronze — the pigment scraped from oxidized metal and used in Renaissance painting before being supplanted by more stable greens. The color refers to a thick verdigris on aged copper roofing or the Statue of Liberty's surface: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the powdery finish of mineral oxide. Cooler than patina, warmer than seafoam, with the archaeological weight of a mineral made by time.