Voluptuous Mira Ultramarine

Latin voluptuōsus, pleasurable — derived from voluptās (pleasure). As a color modifier, voluptuous implies a saturated-and-rich-and-curving-sensual quality, the deep-rich color of Rubens-and-Boucher baroque-and-rococo flesh-and-fabric tonality. Sits at the bold-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to lush and plush in tone.

Latin mira, wonderful-or-marvelous. As a color modifier, mira implies a variable-pulsing-and-red-giant-and-wondrous quality, the visual register of Cetus-Whale-and-variable-Mira-the-Wonder hand-variable-pulsing-and-red-giant-and-wondrous Cetus-Whale-and-variable-Mira-and-Hevelius-discovery mira-and-variable-pulsing-and-red-giant-and-wondrous surfaces under Cetus-Whale-and-variable-Mira-and-Hevelius-discovery 332-day-cycle-and-deep-red-pulse pulsing-stellar-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to nova and pulsar 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.