As a crushed insect painted Europe in red (and became a symbol of power)

From the color of sin to the artistic expression of wealth (going through a nauseating smell), the red launched Spain to hegemony. It may be Rojo, Rouge or Rosso, but in Portuguese it makes more sense – and incarnate is a word to rethink.

Since the Old Testament times that red is a controversial color. In our religion, it is the prohibited color – and no wonder it is used to scratch, prohibit, signal a stop, a traffic light, a mistake, a negative list. It catches the eye, warns, alert, forbids.

From an early age, therefore, the search for this fascinating and attractive color was a challenge. Purple, for example, equally hypnotizing color, was already a luxurious color, according to, produced by the smooth snail, crushed and transformed into a dye in classical Europe. But red was still difficult to get.

To paint with this color, Europeans imported a strange mix of the Ottoman Empire, the so -called “Türkiye Red.” But the unintensive mysterla did not strive for quality…. Starting with the smell. According to Amy Butler Greenfield in the book “A Perfect Red”, the color beaten was comported by cow manure, rancid olive oil and blood of the bull. Botted in a palette, but very alive in the nostrils of those who used it.

But several thousand kilometers from us, already a civilization dominated the art of paints much better than us. The red color was already used with great dexterity by Mexico Mesoamericans: to dye clothes, paint murals and even… to serve as a medicine. They had been doing since 2000 BC.

The secret to this vibrant color was only discovered, however, several centuries later, with the arrival of the Spaniards to the Americas in the 16th century: the key was a small and strange insect called sproutcrushed and transformed into a magnificent red.

Peripheral villages paid Aztec rulers in pounds of tapered and swim-red-fabric rolls-this color was everywhere. But initially did not convince the conqueror Hernán Cortés.

However, the Spanish king saw in his cochonilla an opportunity to maintain its dominance in the country, balance the financial scales of the kingdom and ensure coffers of the crown. It was then that he became interested in red, or Rojo.

Textile expert Quetzalina Sanchez explains to BBC that “through absurd laws and decrees, [os espanhóis] they monopolized the trade ”of this color.“ They forced the Indians to produce as much as possible. ” The Spaniards “profited immense as intermediaries,” exploring the local indigenous people.

Quickly Europe was fascinated by the color so alive And for the efficacy of the Chochonilha, and began to adopt it in the Renaissance paintings, which we recognize today. Spanish hegemony was restored-and the way was a series of famous paintings full of red: the symbol of power, nobility, wealth.

But even modernist Like Paul Gauguin, Auguste Renoir and Vincent Van Gogh used the cochonal for their living paintings.

No Mexico, explains to researcher, “A Cor COn the way to be associated with ancestral magic and protects those who wear tinged with a cochonilla clothes. ”

Red or incarnate? Choose the insect

In Portugal, we use a very different nomenclature than our “brothers” of language, that is, from other Latin -derived languages. In Spanish, the rojoin Italian, the rossothat many here associate with wine, and the rouge French, which we can most associate with makeup.

Where does it come from, then red? According to the journalist Mafalda Lopes da Costa, our word derives from the Latin “vermiculus”, which means “Little worm”, or “worm”. Soon you can see the relationship between the cochonal worm and the red – born from a worm.

And the incarnate? This one will have arisen from the practice – according to the dictionaries, “Incarnate” means something that is the color of the living flesh. Now, the favorite nomenclature of the Lisboners originates in the blood, where, long before the production of this worm, the red red since the dawn of humanity has been.

If you prefer civilization and art, “red” will be better option than “incarnate”. The north gets the victory – but Benfica with the color.