How Vermilion is made:
| Source: | Mineral cinnabar (at Mineralogy Database). |
| Natural variety of pigment | The mineral was crushed and purified by washing and heating.Two methods however emerged in its manufacture; that of the dry method, which was used by ancient alchemists and the wet method, which was developed in England, Germany and America. |
| Artificial variety of pigment | Mercury is combined with molten sulfur in weight proportions of five to one, forming black amorphous HgS (a'-form), which is broken up and sublimated in earthenware pots, where its crystal structure reconfigures into red crystals (a-form). |
The ground pigment:
Pile of ground Vermilion: