The Accidental Search for a Color

In the early 18th century, a charlatan called Hen Conrad Dipple was trying to create an alchemical cure all. He mixed bovine blood and potash with urine in his shabby little lab for what he believed would be a cure all for all human ailments. But by chance, when he popped the discarded concoction on the fire, it turned out to be this extraordinary blue that neither of them saw coming. The Prussian blue is soon made available to artists, including Picasso's "Blue Room"