Abstract
EPOCHS OF BLUE SYMBOLISM AND ART
Blue is a Holy colour representing eternity in ancient civilizations such as India, China, Mesopotamia as well as Shamanism. Despite a deep respect towards blue in Asian cultures, the West took a different attitude. For example, blue didn’t register as a signifier in ancient Greece. Israelites valued blue as much as other eastern cultures. Blue represents Virgin and it became more prominently used after the invention of St. Dennis Blue at medieval period. It has been the colour of sadness as depicted by Vermeer and throughout Romantic era. A flower mentioned in Novalis’s fiction (1802), Aquilegia vulgaris, is the symbol of ideals and love. The “yellow-blue theory” of Goethe impacted 19th century painters. The divine power attributed to blue is universal but originated from the East. On the other hand Western use of this colour, and especially its achromatic tones, is a result of inspiring to melancholy or could be due to sense of isolation or subliminal citations to Mary.
Keywords
Gok (blue), mythology, divinity, Psycho-physiology, East-West, symbol.
