Maya Blue Pigment is prepared by mixing indigo with a white clay. It receives its name from its historical origin: it was in fact identified as responsible for the blue color of various mural paintings and Maya artefacts (a famous example is Bonampak), without understanding what its natural origin was. Following investigations and experiments, scholars were able to discover that it is made up of indigo (a natural midnight blue pigment obtained from various plants all over the world) fixed on special white clays present in the Americas (attapulgite or palygorskite).
Use: In the fine arts for the preparation of watercolors, tempera, oil colors, acrylics.