A beautifully rich color not occurring in nature, Egyptian blue might be one of the earliest examples of the intersection between art and science. Possibly one of the first artificially created pigments, the existence of egyptian blue shows us that art and science have never really existed in the two completely different and separate spheres that we confine them to today. The amount of effort that went into the production of egyptian blue suggest that the production of art was as important in ancient Egypt as the scientific pursuit is today. Art was seen as a thing of value; something that was worth creating and attaining. This is a view point that has somewhat diminished in today’s societal landscape. In a time where seemingly concrete answers, and the possibility of cutting edge innovations are valued above all, it is rarely seen that as much care and diligence is given to art as it took to create egyptian blue.
As innovative and special as it was in ancient Egypt, egyptian blue is still helping bridge the gap between art and science. With its ability to emit infrared light, egyptian blue is making science valuable to art, once again reminding us that the two worlds are not necessarily completely separate from one another.