Rojo mexicano

The 19 texts contained in the present catalogue trace the journey of the Mexican red cochineal from the highlands of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica to Europe, a natural dye that produced a red so intense that European artists quickly embraced it as their own for three centuries. The trade in this dye reaped vast riches for the Spanish crown and it became increasingly associated with the projection of power in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cochineal fell into decline in the 19th century, as synthetic dyes were introduced, but was sought out later by the Impressionists. The essays represent years of research and work of different specialists, chemists, restorers, historians, physicists, economists, biologists and artists who write about subjects as varied as the biological characteristics of insects, color extraction processes and technological innovations, among others.