Purple Madder 

Editor: This is Purple Madder, manufactured by Madderton, housed at the Harvard Art Museums. It's simply pigment in a jar, but the color is arresting. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Consider how color carries cultural memory. Purple Madder, derived from the madder root, evokes royalty, suffering, and even alchemical transformation, doesn't it? This pigment wasn't just color; it was a carrier of symbolic weight. Editor: That’s fascinating. I hadn't considered the symbolic baggage of a simple color. Curator: Yes! It's not just what we see but what we remember, what echoes through time in that pigment. Thinking about the artist’s choice becomes much more complex then, wouldn't you say? Editor: Absolutely. Thanks, I'll never look at color the same way again.