Malachite

Malachite

Malachite was used as a mineral pigment in green paints from antiquity until c. 1800. The pigment is moderately lightfast, sensitive to acids, and varying in color.

In ancient Egypt the colour green (wadj) was associated with death and the power of resurrection as well as new life and fertility. Ancient Egyptians believed that the afterlife contained an eternal paradise, referred to as the "Field of Malachite", which resembled their lives but with no pain or suffering.