Indigo: What can one colour tell us about a painting?

In this new video, QEST Finnis Scott Foundation Scholar and National Gallery Conservation Fellow Kendall Francis takes a closer look at indigo, a blue dye and pigment extracted from the leaves of plants, and how it is used and represented in paintings in the Gallery’s collection.

Kendall’s research reveals histories that are not explicitly portrayed in the paintings and highlights the important contributions from a wider range of people, including the enslaved people who cultivated the crops and extracted the indigo against their will.

The project was supported using public funding by Arts Council England.