Naples yellow

American  

noun

1. a poisonous pigment used in painting and enameling, consisting chiefly of lead antimoniate and characterized by its fugitive yellow color, rapid drying rate, and strong film-forming properties.

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Naples yellow British  

noun

1. a yellow pigment, used by artists; lead antimonate

2. a similar pigment consisting of a mixture of zinc oxide with yellow colouring matter

3. the colour of either of these pigments

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Etymology

Origin of Naples yellow

1730–40; so called because originally manufactured in Naples, Italy

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Naples yellow

Of similar stability, it must not be employed with the true Naples yellow or antimoniate of lead, by which it is soon destroyed.

From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Thomas Salter

Mr Coathupe has clearly shown, that even Naples yellow does not suffer from contact with iron, otherwise than by abrasion, by which the steel of the knife becomes itself a pigment, as on the hone.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 357, June, 1845 by Various

Most noteworthy are aureolin, the deep and 'pale' cadmiums, lemon yellow, Mars yellow, the modern Naples yellow, the ochres, orient yellow, and raw sienna.

From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Thomas Salter

The dark sky is streaked with Naples yellow, and the pale colour serves to render distinct the three crosses planted upon Calvary in the extreme distance.

From Modern Painting by George (George Augustus) Moore

The sight of the mixing of cobalt blue and Naples yellow on Katrine's palette only caused the children to press yet closer.

From The Jolliest Term on Record A Story of School Life by Angela Brazil