Black. The History of Color

This monograph is a continuation of a large-scale project by the French historian Michel Pastureau -- the history of color in Western European societies, from Ancient Rome to the 18th century, which he began with a study of Europeans' relationship... with the color blue. This time, Pastureau focuses on one of the most mysterious and controversial colors with quite a complicated fate – black. The author undertakes a true detective investigation into the adventures, and often misadventures, of the color black in Western European culture. The color of primordial darkness, the Black Death, and the Black Knight, in the Middle Ages it migrated to the garments of monks, soon dominated Protestant wardrobes, became the favorite color of lawyers and merchants, and in the era of romanticism turned into an inseparable sign of melancholic coverings, later marking elegance and chic, while also being an essential attribute of urban everyday life.