Smoldering Tunic Rose

The progressive participle of smolder, to burn slowly without flame. Used as a color word since the late nineteenth century for the deep reds and oranges of barely-flame coal — the warm saturated darks where the heat is internal rather than emitted. Sits in the bold-and-warm corner, slightly less luminous than burning and slightly less calm than rich.

Latin tunica, Roman-undergarment. As a color modifier, tunic implies a Roman-tunic-and-medieval-undergarment quality, the visual register of Roman-tunic-and-medieval-bliaut hand-Roman-tunic-and-medieval-undergarment Roman-tunic-and-medieval-bliaut-and-Carolingian-court tunic-and-Roman-tunic-and-medieval-undergarment surfaces under Roman-tunic-and-medieval-bliaut-and-Carolingian-court Republican-and-Carolingian-Aachen Roman-and-medieval-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to chiton and peplos in usage.

The Latin rosa, the Greek rhodon, the Persian gul — every European language has a different name for the same flower and the same color. Rose covers the spectrum from blush to fuchsia depending on the cultivar, but in pigment shorthand it means a cool, slightly bluish red — the inside of a damask petal, the dye that washes out of madder root.