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Stories in Colour

Stories in Colour

By: The National Gallery
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About this listen

These are the stories of how colour has changed the world. 'Stories in Colour’ is a vibrant new podcast from the National Gallery in London. In each episode, we uncover the hidden mysteries woven into colour from antiquity to the present day. Along the way, you'll hear from curators, scientists, historians, artists, and more experts, looking at humanity’s efforts to make colour and make meaning with it. And amongst these stories, you will see - and hear - the National Gallery’s paintings in a whole new spectrum of light. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcastCopyright 2025 The National Gallery Art Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Painting the rainbow
    Jul 8 2025

    What exactly is a rainbow and how is it formed? Why does it have seven colours? And what have rainbows symbolised in mythologies and art?

    Join colour expert Dr Alexandra Loske, National Gallery Principal Scientist Joseph Padfield and National Gallery host Beks Leary as they cover rainbows from Noah’s Ark to Olafur Eliasson, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to Georges Seurat’s ‘The Rainbow’ study.

    Alexandra is a colour expert, art historian and museum curator. Her exhibition 'Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion' is on display at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton until October 2025. She is also author of 'The Artist's Palette' and 'Colour: A Visual History'.

    Joseph is a Principal Scientist at the National Gallery. He brings a wealth of expertise across multiple domains, including data management, digital infrastructure, conservation documentation, digital imaging, web development, preventive conservation, museum lighting, colour science, and the technical examination of paintings.

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    Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XjaFKMexByg

    You can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.uk

    Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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    To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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    Paintings mentioned:

    Angelica Kauffman RA, ‘Colouring’, 1778-80. Royal Academy of Arts, London © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/colour

    Jan Van Eyck, ‘The Annunciation’, about 1434/1436. National Gallery of Art, Washington https://www.nga.gov/artworks/46-annunciation

    Bartolomé Bermejo, ‘Saint Michael triumphant over the Devil with the Donor Antoni Joan’, 1468. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/bartolome-bermejo-saint-michael-triumphs-over-the-devil

    John Constable, ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows’, exhibited 1831. Tate, Purchased by Tate with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Manton Foundation, Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation) and Tate Members in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales, Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service, National Galleries of Scotland, and The Salisbury Museum 2013. © Photo: Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-salisbury-cathedral-from-the-meadows-t13896

    John...

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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • How snails made purple a royal colour
    Jul 1 2025

    Why do we see purple as the colour of royalty? It all starts on the Mediterranean coast with some unassuming, and eventually very unfortunate, seasnails.

    Travel back to ancient times with colour specialist Victoria Finlay and National Gallery host Beks Leary to trace the story of Tyrian purple through time.

    Victoria has written several books about colour – including 'Colour, Travels through the Paintbox' and 'The Brilliant History of Color in Art' – which involved travelling across the globe to the very places that ancient pigments and dyes came from. Her most recent book is about the hidden histories of fabric.

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    Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kcPMFsafav8

    You can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.uk

    Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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    To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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    Paintings mentioned:

    Peter Paul Rubens, ‘La Découverte de la Pourpre un phenicien trouve grace a son chien un coquillage produisant la teintre rouge’, about 1636. Musée Bonnat, Bayonne, France © Musée Bonnat, Bayonne, France / Photo Josse/Scala, Florence https://webmuseo.com/ws/musee-bonnat-helleu/app/collection/record/1923

    Raphael, ‘The Dream of a Knight’, about 1504. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/raphael-the-dream-of-a-knight

    Lorenzo Costa, 'Portrait (supposed to be of Battista Fiera)', 1490-5. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/lorenzo-costa-portrait-supposed-to-be-of-battista-fiera

    Master of the Bruges Passion Scenes, 'Christ presented to the People', about 1510. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/master-of-the-bruges-passion-scenes-christ-presented-to-the-people

    Further reading:

    Victoria Finlay, Color: A Natural History of the Palette, 2002

    Victoria Finlay, Colour: Travels through the Paintbox, 2002

    Victoria Finlay, The Brilliant History of Color in Art, 2014

    Victoria Finlay, Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World, 2021

    Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, composed around 2nd century AD

    Find out more about the Tito...

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    53 mins
  • The fear of colour: chromophobia
    Jun 24 2025

    Where did all the colour go? And how might Western culture have feared it, or deemed it superficial, in art and philosophy? We celebrate the 25th anniversary of seminal book ‘Chromophobia’ with its author David Batchelor, who reflects on these ideas a quarter of a century on.

    David speaks to National Gallery host Beks Leary about ideas of colour from philosopher Plato and artist Paul Cezanne, to the film ‘The Wizard of Oz’, photojournalist Don McCullin and pop artist Andy Warhol. They also ask the pressing question: ‘is beige a passive aggressive colour?’

    David Batchelor is an artist and writer based in London, who, for thirty years, has been concerned with our experience of colour within the modern urban environment, and with historical conceptions of colour within Western culture. His work comprises sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography and animation.

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    Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bOrd81eklxM

    You can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.uk

    Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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    To take our short survey about the podcast please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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    Artworks mentioned:

    Paul Cezanne, ‘Hillside in Provence’, about 1890-2. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-cezanne-hillside-in-provence

    Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, ‘Madame Moitessier’, 1856. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jean-auguste-dominique-ingres-madame-moitessier

    Pierre-Auguste Renoir, ‘The Skiff (La Yole)’, 1875. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pierre-auguste-renoir-the-skiff-la-yole

    Claude Monet, ‘The Gare St-Lazare', 1877. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-the-gare-st-lazare

    Sir Don McCullin CBE, ‘Shell-shocked US Marine, The Battle of Hue’, 1968, printed 2013. ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mccullin-shell-shocked-us-marine-the-battle-of-hue-ar01201 /

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    45 mins
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