| Title: | Azurite |
| Original Title: | Bleu de montagne |
| Volume and Page: | Vol. 2 (1752), p. 283 |
| Author: | Paul Henri Dietrich, baron d'Holbach (biography) |
| Translator: | Abra Guo [University of Michigan] |
| Subject terms: |
Natural history
Mineralogy
|
| Original Version (ARTFL): | Link |
| Rights/Permissions: |
This text is protected by copyright and may be linked to without seeking permission. Please see http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/terms.html for information on reproduction. |
| URL: | http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0002.879 |
| Citation (MLA): | Holbach, Paul Henri Dietrich, baron d'. "Azurite." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Abra Guo. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2020. Web. [fill in today's date in the form 18 Apr. 2009 and remove square brackets]. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0002.879>. Trans. of "Bleu de montagne," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 2. Paris, 1752. |
| Citation (Chicago): | Holbach, Paul Henri Dietrich, baron d'. "Azurite." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Abra Guo. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0002.879 (accessed [fill in today's date in the form April 18, 2009 and remove square brackets]). Originally published as "Bleu de montagne," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, 2:283 (Paris, 1752). |
Azurite, lapis armenus or coeruleum montanum , in German, berg-blau . It is a mineral or blue stone fossil, tending slightly toward aqua. It resembles lapis lazuli , but it is softer, lighter, and more brittle and its color does not withstand heat. When azurite is used in painting, there is a risk that the color will turn greenish. This stone is found in France, Italy, and Germany, particularly in the Tyrol. It is said that those which come from the Orient can withstand heat without loss of color. Azurite contains a lot of copper; that which is lightweight supplies less than that which is heavy; the former contains a small amount of iron, according to M. Cramer. [1] It is said that azurite is counterfeited in Holland, by melting sulfur and mixing in pulverized verdigris. To use azurite in painting, it is necessary to crush it, wash it, and separate out the small stones that are sometimes mixed in.
It is used from time to time in medicine, as it has purgative and emetic properties. However, it seems appropriate to use it with great caution, given the copper that makes up its base.
1. The reference is to the German mineralogist Johann Andreas Cramer (1710-1777).