/ or • puh • munt / Orpiment	Jump to pigmentMadder lake (alizarine)AzuriteBone blackBrown ochreCarmineCadmium orangecadmium yellowCerulean BlueCalcium carbonate whitesCharcoalcobalt blueCobalt greencobalt violetCobalt yellowChrome orangechrome yellowcopper resinateEgyptian blueEmerald greenGreen earthIndian yellowIndigolead whiteLemon yellowmalachiteNaples yellowOrpimentlead tin yellowPrussian bluerealgarred leadRed ochresmalttitanium dioxideUltramarineUmbraVan Dyke brownverdigrisvermilionviridianYellow ochrezinc white

1.  Overview     2. History of use     3. Making the pigment     4. Technical details

About the chemical structure:          Chemical name: Yellow arsenic sulfide Formula: As2S3 Crystal system: Monoclinic - Prismatic (at Mineralogy Database) Refractive index: Biaxial: alpha = 2.4, beta = 2.81, gamma = 3.02

A swatch of Orpiment paint:

How can you identify Orpiment?          Chemical identification: n/a Spectra: Raman spectra (at University College London), (pdf file download; at University of Florence, Italy)   Usage and handling:          Permanence: Toxicity: moderate Orpiment is very toxic (MSDS at Fisher Scientific)   Literature:             Wallert, A. Orpiment und Realgar, Maltechnik-Restauro, 90, 1984, s. 45 Artists’ Pigments. A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol. 3: E.W. Fitzhugh (Ed) Oxford University Press 1997, p. 47-79

Other oranges         (intro) - Cadmium orange - Chrome orange - Orpiment