Green Death | The Art History of Arsenic

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“As to the arsenic scare a greater folly is hardly possible to imagine:  the doctors were bitten as people bitten by witch fever.”

~William Morris, The Collected Letters of William Morris, Vol. 2

Arsenic in Art

The discovery of a deep, vivid green by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1775 led to a fashion craze lasting for more than a century. From the start, Scheele knew that the pigment he had developed was highly poisonous. But he also realized that it was unlike any other green pigment available on the market. The lucrative lure of bringing this deadly hue to manufacturers, cloth dyers, artists, and more worldwide proved irresistible to Scheele.

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Scheele’s Green became incredibly popular. It all but completely replaced older green pigments based on copper carbonate that had been used up until Scheele’s discovery. So popular was the hue that even after it became common knowledge that the paint was toxic, it was still used.

Its vibrant color could be found in clothing, wallpaper, toys, candles, dyes and more through the end of the 19th century. Gowns, hats, gloves and socks were dyed with it, sometimes making the wearer ill through touch alone. Children in green rooms were documented as “wasting away.” Women in green dresses were struck ill, swooning in droves. The ingredient that made the color in Scheele’s Green so vibrant was also responsible for its deadliness. That ingredient was arsenic.

Death…By Green?

Scheele’s Green (later reconfigured as Paris Green and Emerald Green) was not just used in dyes and paints. It was also used in wallpapers, insecticidal sprays used on vegetables and postage stamps. What a mix!

Historic rumor has it that the vivid green wallpaper in Napoleon’s bedroom on St. Helena Island, where the deposed ruler died in exile, showed traces of Scheele’s Green in the fleur-de-lis pattern printed on it. Humid environments, like that on St. Helena, may have caused the arsenic to off-gas or perhaps even flake off the wallpaper itself. Although there is no conclusive evidence, it is suspected that the arsenic in the wallpaper may have contributed to Napoleon’s death.

Tragically Misunderstood

As the opening quote by William Morris highlights, the action of arsenic in the human body was not understood by many of the users and practitioners that made the color so famous. Why? Because the arsenic did not affect everyone the same way. Some people exposed to the paint would fall ill, while others with a similar exposure, did not. However, a tragic pattern soon emerged—it was particularly lethal to the most vulnerable: children, the elderly and the sickly.

Wiser Today

It is unlikely that many of the Scheele’s Green products are still around. However, Victoria Finley writes in The Brilliant History of Color in Art, “Even as late as 1950 the United States ambassador to Italy, Clare Boothe Luce, fell sick from arsenic poisoning. The CIA suspected the Soviets and sent a team to Rome to investigate. They eventually found that the ceiling in her bedroom was decorated with pigments full of arsenic. A new washing machine had been installed in the room above. Its juddering had released arsenic dust, which she breathed in as she slept.”

Color Conscious

As artists, we must stay aware of the materials we are using and take precautions when handling pigments that may have toxic ingredients. But we are fortunate to be living in a time when it is easy to obtain detailed information about our materials as well as a time when manufacturers are working to create less and less toxic formulas.

Many online art materials retailers now provide detailed information about their pigments, including which ones are still toxic. But still, be careful out there! Use pigments safely and sensibly! Because color is one of the things artists love most and color is truly art’s gift to the world!

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