Anchored Atrium Violet

The past participle of anchor, used since the late nineteenth century as a metaphor for secured in place. As a color word, anchored implies a deep saturated tone that grounds a palette — the dark blues, deep greens, and browns that hold a composition together. Sits in the bold-and-deep corner of the grid alongside solid.

Latin atrium, Roman-house-courtyard. As a color modifier, atrium implies a Roman-and-modern-courtyard-with-skylight quality, the visual register of Roman-Pompeii-and-modern-Mid-Century-Modern-atrium hand-built central-courtyard-with-skylight atrium-and-impluvium-and-courtyard architectural surfaces under Roman-and-Mid-Century-Modern atrium-skylight light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to loggia and quad in usage.

Viola odorata, the European sweet violet — small, fragrant, and the original meaning of the color name in English (the Violet of the rainbow). The color refers to a fresh sweet violet blossom in late winter: a saturated, slightly red-shifted deep blue-purple with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower. Cooler than amethyst, warmer than indigo, with the perfumed weight of a flower used in Roman garlands and Victorian eau de toilette.