The world’s first red paint, Hematite, when crushed or scraped against stone, creates the red ochre color seen in Paleolithic cave paintings. Red ocher does not fade away like other pigments, allowing us to see the cave paintings as they were 40,000 years ago. Hematite’s name is derived from the Greek word haimatites, meaning “blood-like” due to its color.

Hematite’s use in art wasn’t restricted to prehistoric times- Michaelangelo used it for his studies for the Sistine Chapel and da Vinci utilized the red mineral for Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk. 15^th and 16^th century artists’ use of sanguine chalk pencils made of red ochre has led to modern artists to use red colored pencils in their sketches, similarly invoking the warm, traditional tone of the sanguine art created by Renaissance masters.

This Hematite specimen from Novo Horizonte, Brazil is beautiful with mirror-like faces and triangular growths. Accompanied by an acrylic base with the locality on it, this Hematite specimen is 3 x 1.75 inches base, 2.5 inches tall total.