1.25 oz. W&N Artists' Oil Colors Burnt Sienna #074

Burnt Sienna is the heated form of Raw Sienna, an earth pigment (containing iron oxide and manganese oxide) used since man first started creating art. Brown colors have come in and out of fashion through the ages, and were often set aside in the medieval era in favor of brighter colors. Browns became important again during the Renaissance period as artists needed it to show gradation from dark to light, and Rembrandt was particularly fond of using all of the earth pigments, Sienna included. Although Sienna (named for Siena, Italy) was available in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was considered fashionable to use "mommia," a pigment created from exhumed Egyptian mummies, rather than Sienna. Although synthetic variants of Sienna are available, Sienna is still mined in Sicily and Sardinia. Burnt Sienna is an intense, deep red-brown color.