Red lead
Composition and Properties of Red Lead
It is a mixed lead oxide containing Pb2+ and Pb4+ lead ions with an overall formula of Pb3O4. The pigment has been artificially prepared since antiquity but can also be found in nature as the mineral minium.The pigment is soluble in diluted acids, it cannot be used in fresco and in watercolor and it can blacken after prolonged exposure to air. It is not compatible with orpiment.
Preparation of Red Lead
Red lead can be prepared by heating lead (II) oxide in the air at about 450° C. It was also prepared by heating lead white (basic lead carbonate) in air.
History of Use
The pigment has been in use since antiquity until around the nineteenth century. The following graph gives the frequency of its use from the 14th until the 19th century in the paintings of the Schack Collection in the Bavarian State Art Collections in Munich (1).References(1) Kühn, H., Die Pigmente in den Gemälden der Schack-Galerie, in: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen (Ed.) Schack-Galerie (Gemäldekataloge Bd. II), München 1969.Example of use
Identification
Quote
When red lead is heated, it is changed into litharge, and a gas [oxygen] wherein a lighted taper burns rapidly and brilliantly.
Source: The Elements of Chemistry (Muir)
The two oxides [cuprous oxide & cupric oxide of copper were used in glass-making; verdigris was manufactured and put to several uses; white lead was used as a cosmetic by the Athenian ladies, and found further use as a medicine; red lead was used as a paint; stibium, or native antimony sulphide, was used as a paint for the eyelashes, and is still used for that purpose in the East under the name of kohl; black oxide of manganese was used in glass-making, especially for clearing up darkened masses, and so got its name of pyrolusite; the native carbonate of zinc was also known and used; the sulphides of arsenic, orpiment and realgar, were well-known pigments.
Source: A Short History of Chemistry
