Crimson & Purple & Magenta

Crimson is the Mughal carnelian — the deep vivid crimson of the most important Mughal decorative stone. Mughal carnelian: carnelian (aqiq — عقیق — from Arabic/Persian — the most important and the most extensively used gemstone in the Mughal inlay decorative tradition — the specific deep vivid orange-to-crimson of the most characteristically Mughal carnelian being the most immediately beautiful and the most specifically precious-looking of all the warm-toned semi-precious stones used in the most elaborate Mughal pietra dura — parchin kari — inlay work). Pietra dura: the Mughal parchin kari tradition (the most technically demanding and the most immediately internationally beautiful decorative stonework in the Indian subcontinent — developed at the Mughal court from the most direct Italian pietra dura influence — brought to India most specifically by the Italian craftsmen who worked at the most important Agra workshops during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan — 1628-1658 CE) is most immediately visible in: the Taj Mahal (the most immediately internationally famous building in India — where the most elaborate and the most extensively applied parchin kari decoration covers the most important marble surfaces — using the most precisely inlaid carnelian, lapis lazuli, malachite, turquoise, onyx, and mother of pearl to create the most immediately beautiful botanical and geometric designs in any inlaid stonework in the world). The specific crimson: the most characteristic and the most immediately Mughal carnelian is the deep vivid orange-red-to-crimson — the specific color that appears in the most important flower petals, the most elaborate arabesques, and the most precisely inlaid geometric border elements of the most important Mughal inlay programmes. Purple is the Mughal violet — the rich medium purple of the most carefully prepared Mughal miniature pigment. Mughal miniature tradition: the Mughal court miniature (the most technically refined and the most artistically comprehensive book illustration tradition in the Islamic world — established by Emperor Akbar in the most specifically organized imperial atelier — the Musalsal Khana — with the most important indigenous Indian painters trained by the most skilled imported Persian painters — creating the most immediate synthesis of the most important Persian Timurid and Safavid miniature traditions with the most specifically Indian artistic sensibility). The violet pigment: in the most important Mughal court miniature workshops (the most comprehensively equipped and the most precisely organized art production facilities in 16th-17th century India), the specific rich medium violet-to-purple was produced by the most carefully controlled and the most precisely proportioned mixture of: lapis lazuli blue (from the most important Afghan lapis lazuli mines — the same Sar-e-Sang mines that supplied the most important Persian and European workshops — brought to the Mughal court through the most specific Afghan-Mughal trading connections) and the most precisely prepared red lake pigment (from the most important Indian lac, madder, or safflower dye traditions). Magenta is the lac dye — the pure vivid magenta of the most important Indian insect dye. Lac dye: Indian lac dye (from the resinous secretion of the Laccifer lacca scale insect — the most commercially important insect-derived dye material in Indian textile history — the most extensively produced and the most widely traded of all the pre-synthetic Indian dye materials — produced primarily in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha — the most important lac-producing regions of India) produces the most immediately vivid and the most electrically brilliant of all the important traditional Indian dye colors — the specific pure vivid magenta of the most concentrated lac dye solution (in the most acidic and the most exactly controlled mordant conditions using alum — the most standard and the most effective lac dye mordant — on the most carefully prepared cotton and silk fibres) being one of the most electrically beautiful and the most immediately Indian-feeling of all the important traditional organic dye colors.