Voluptuous Scorpio 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 scorpio, scorpion-of-the-zodiac. As a color modifier, scorpio implies a scorpion-and-water-sign-and-Mars-Pluto-ruled-fixed-water quality, the visual register of Hellenic-Scorpio-and-Orion-myth-scorpion hand-scorpion-and-water-sign-and-Mars-Pluto-ruled-fixed-water Hellenic-Scorpio-and-Orion-myth-scorpion-and-Antares scorpio-and-scorpion-and-water-sign surfaces under Hellenic-Scorpio-and-Orion-myth-scorpion-and-Antares mid-autumn-and-October-and-November fixed-water-sign-light. Sits at the modifier-and-zodiac end of the grid, parallel to libra and sagittarius 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.