Antica Green Earth
Natural green earths, such as Antica green, are transparent and are absolutely permanent in oil. Most oil colors labeled "green earth" from artists' paint manufacturers do not actually contain the natural mineral, but rather is a mixture of synthetic chromium oxide green and sometimes barium sulfate with either a natural yellow ocher or yellow iron oxide. Rublev Colours Antica Green Earth contains only the actual mineral from Prun, Italy and linseed oil.
Green earth was used in verdaccio—a style of underpainting that uses green-grey colors to establish values for later layers of paint. Verdaccio is renowned for being particularly effective when painting flesh tones. It was popular amongst Italian Renaissance artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci who used verdaccio underpainting in his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa.
Composition and Permanence| Antica Green Earth | |
| Color: | Green |
| Binder: | Linseed oil |
| Additive(s): | None |
| Pigment Information | |
| Pigment: | |
| Pigment Classification: | Natural inorganic |
| Colour Index: | Pigment Green 23 (77009) |
| Chemical Name: | Hydrated Iron Potassium Silicate |
| Chemical Formula: | K(Mg,Fe)(Fe,Al)Si4O10(OH)2 |
| CAS No. | — |
| Properties | |
| Code: | 208 |
| Series: | 2 |
| Opacity: | Transparent |
| Tinting Strength: | Low |
| Drying Rate: | Medium |
| Lightfastness: | I |
| Permanence: | A |
| Safety Information: | Based on toxicological review, there are no acute or known chronic health hazards with the anticipated use of this product. Always protect yourself against potentially unknown chronic hazards of this and other chemical products by avoiding ingestion, excessive skin contact, and inhalation of spraying mists, sanding dusts, and concentrated vapors. |
For a detailed explanation of the terms in the table above, please visit .
NotesSome separation of pigment and oil may occur in Rublev Colours Artist Oils and is a natural process when no wax or stabilizers are added to paint to prevent this from occurring.
All images of color swatches in this web site are only approximations of the actual color of the oil paint. We have taken every care to match the color in these pictures on calibrated color monitors to the actual color. However, because of the wide variance in color monitors the results you get may vary.
Color Swatch Note: The color swatch was created with a thick application (left side) of color and a tint (right side) made with equal parts of color and titanium white and applied on acrylic primed cotton canvas.
Drawdown Note: The image of the "drawdown" contains a pre-mixed paint film of 6 mil (0.006 inch) thickness applied to a standard test card for the purposes of examining color consistency, opacity and other qualities. The drawdowns show the color full strength (mass tone), on the left, and mixed in a 1:2 ratio with titanium white on the right. The bottom area of the drawdowns are scraped to show undertones.
| Color Names | |
| Common Names: | English: green earth French: terre verte German: grüne Masse Italian: terre verde Portuguese: terra verde Russian: зеленаяземля Spanish: tierra verde |