Chapter III · Structural Colour
The Cabinet Ledger
Plate XIV
Pigment fades.
Structure endures.
Across two centuries of cabinet specimens, only the Morpho's structural blue keeps its luminance.
0%
25
50
75
100
22%
31%
18%
27%
91%
Swallowtail ochre
Deep amber wash
Vermilion brick
Slate ground ink
Morpho structural blue
Retained luminance after ~200 years of cabinet storage, by colourant type (n = 318 mounted specimens).
Source: Conservation survey, hand-coloured copperplate folios, Amsterdam · 1734–present
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