if blue was such a expensive and rare color how come the picts are always depicted with blue paint on their flesh

by richardrasmus

from what i heard blue was incredibly rare and expensive and yet every depiction of the picts shows them using it, how come

mioclio

The rarest and most expensive colour was purple. Blue was a fairly common colour in areas where woad grows. And the picts used woad to paint their skin.

In the early modern age woad was more and more replaced by indigo: that gave a much stronger and more vibrant colour and you needed less plant material.

Coloured textiles have been around for ages, but high quality vibrant colours were less common and, if available, often more expensive