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Lapis lazuli Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
Lapis lazuli facts for kids
| Lapis lazuli | |
|---|---|
A polished specimen of lapis lazuli.
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| General | |
| Category | Rock |
| Formula (repeating unit) |
mixture of minerals |
| Identification | |
| Color | Blue, mottled with white calcite and brassy pyrite |
| Mohs scale hardness | 5–5.5 |
| Luster | dull |
| Streak | light blue |
| Specific gravity | 2.7–2.9 |
| Refractive index | 1.5 |
| Other characteristics | The variations in composition cause a wide variation in the above values. |
Lapis lazuli is a mineral, and a gemstone. It is formed as a metamorphic rock of the limestone type.
Lapis is famous for its beautiful blue colour: its name means "stone of blue". Lapis Lazuli has been used for many things. Its has been made into beads and used in jewellery since Prehistoric times. It can be carved into statuettes (little sculptures). The major use was as a pigment (colour) in artists' paint. During Medieval and Renaissance times, lapis was ground into powder, and mixed with oil. It was used as the colour for painting the sky, and blue clothes. It can be seen in the fresco paintings of Giotto and the tempera paintings of Fra Angelico.
Alternatives
Lapis lazuli is commercially "synthesized" (actually simulated) by a chemical process, using artificial ultramarine and hydrous zinc phosphates. There are also various substitutes for lapis.
Images for kids
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Naqada I (Egypt) female figure, circa 3700 BC. Bone with Lapis inlay from Badakhshan.
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A sample from the Sar-i Sang mine in Afghanistan, where lapis lazuli has been mined since the 7th Millennium BC.
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Natural ultramarine pigment made from ground lapis lazuli. This was the most expensive blue pigment during the Renaissance, often reserved for depicting the robes of Angels or the Virgin Mary.
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A Mesopotamian lapis lazuli pendant circa 2900 BC.
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A lapis lazuli bowl from Iran (End of 3rd, beginning 2nd millennium BC)
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Close-up of the lapis lazuli inlays in the 25th-century BC Statue of Ebih-Il
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In the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341-1323 BC), lapis lazuli was used for the eyebrows of the young Pharaoh.
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Carved lapis lazuli mountain scene, from the Chinese Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).
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Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) by Johannes Vermeer is painted with ultramarine, a natural pigment made from lapis lazuli.
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A lapis lazuli urn two meters high from the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia (19th century).