White: The History of a Color

The book "White" by Michel Pastoureau explores the history of the color white in visual culture, from antiquity to the present. It demonstrates how white has been perceived and used in art, fashion, literature, religion, science, and everyday life, and how it has evolved to represent purity, innocence, and cleanliness.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 24 January 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

From the acclaimed author of Blue, a beautifully illustrated history of the color white in visual culture, from antiquity to today, comes White, a captivating exploration of the multifaceted nature of this deceptively simple yet complex hue. In this richly illustrated book, Michel Pastoureau, a celebrated authority on the history of colors, presents a fascinating visual, social, and cultural history of the color white in European societies, from antiquity to the present day.

Illustrated throughout with a wealth of captivating images spanning from the ancient world to the twenty-first century, White delves into the evolving place, perception, and meaning of this deceptively simple yet complex hue in art, fashion, literature, religion, science, and everyday life across the millennia. Before the seventeenth century, whites status as a true color was never contested. On the contrary, from antiquity until the height of the Middle Ages, white formed with red and black a chromatic triad that played a central role in life and art. Moreover, white has not always been perceived as the opposite of black. Throughout the Middle Ages, the true opposite of white was red. White also possesses a rich symbolic history, and the color has often been associated with purity, virginity, innocence, wisdom, peace, beauty, and cleanliness.

With its striking design and compelling text, White is a vibrant history of a surprisingly vivid and diverse color.

Weight: 1386g
Dimension: 240 x 244 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691243498