The Colour Green

What is Green? Green is a color that occupies the wavelength range of 495–570 nanometers in physics. It falls in the middle of the visible spectrum. In art, green is positioned on the conventional color wheel between yellow and blue, directly opposite its complementary color, red.

Green, the color of chlorophyll’s quiet alchemy, breathes life into every blade of grass, every leaf, and every moss-covered stone. It thrives in the crevices of pavement, daring to sprout where others see only cracks. Yet, for all its ubiquity, green remains an enigma—an elusive hue that artists have pursued across centuries.

Ancient civilizations grappled with the scarcity of true green pigments. The Egyptians experimented with malachite, a mineral that flirted with verdant promise but often turned treacherously black. The Greeks, perhaps wary of its elusive nature, omitted green from their classic palette of yellow, red, black, and white. It was the Romans who unlocked a secret: copper plates soaked in wine yielded verdigris—a weathered green pigment that adorned mosaics, frescoes, and stained glass. Medieval monks, too, wielded this alchemical elixir to illuminate manuscripts.

Green transcended mere aesthetics; it became a badge of social standing. The gentry donned green, while red signified nobility and brown or gray marked the peasants. Even da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, her gown a verdant whisper of privilege, bore witness to this hierarchy. And in Hans Holbein’s “The Ambassadors,” where intricate instruments meet a distorted skull, green drapes the curtain—a vibrant echo of life against mortality’s shadow.

Yet, green is a chameleon. It weaves between realms. The Wicked Witch of Oz wears it as skin, a supernatural hue that both repels and fascinates. In the Emerald City, wonder and trepidation collide, revealing green’s dual nature—an otherworldly enchantment and a pallor of illness. For, in the lexicon of color, green stands opposite red—the flush of health versus the pallor of ailment.