Pick a Lapis Lazuli Image for Your Project
Lapis lazuli is a mineral of intense blue color, a semi-precious stone of metamorphic origin with almost ten thousand years of intriguing history. It's a composite mineral which means it's a mixture of different substances of varying percentages. The most important components are lazurite, pyrite, and calcite with the addition of augite, diopside, enstatite, hauynite, hornblende, mica, nosean, and other substances.
Major attributors to its splendid blue color are sulfur anions which, again, are present in different oxidative states that have a significant impact on the color. While lapis lazuli traditionally served as the raw material for ultramarine pigment, you'll notice in the photos below there is a relatively wide spectrum of colors that are radiating from the minerals.
All presented photos are Public Domain, so you can use them for your projects virtually without any restrictions. If you find them useful, a link to this webpage would be greatly appreciated.
_6.jpg "Lapis lazuli with lazurite")
The largest known deposits of lapis are in Afghanistan, Siberia, and the Andes. Today it's also synthesized or substituted by other less expensive minerals which are sometimes dyed or otherwise 'tweaked'. Scientists have been able to synthesize chemically identical compounds since the 19th century.
Lapis was for many centuries indispensable for mosaics and had one of the peaks of its usage during the Renaissance when it was a primary resource of ultramarine pigment used for oil painting and frescoes. While lapis lazuli is undoubtedly still among the most spectacular blue colors in the world, there are many more astonishing blue shades to explore.
