Rublev Colours Transaprent Mummy is a semi-transparent deep red with orange undertones, medium grained, average tinting strength and brushes "long" in the direction of the brush stroke.

The red earth comprising Rublev Colours Transparent Mummy Artist Oil is Armenian Mummy Red Light pigment from quarries in the Lori province of northern Armenia. Transparent Mummy derives its name from the Russian word мумию that denotes a pigment of brownish red color similar to the nineteenth-century pigment derived from ground mummies.

Mummy brown was originally made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from the pitch, myrrh and the ground-up remains of Egyptian mummies. As it had good transparency in oil paint and was used for glazes, shadows, flesh tones and shading. It fell from popularity during the nineteenth century when its composition became more generally known to artists.

The modern pigment sold as “mummy” or “mummy brown” is composed of a mixture of hematite, goethite, clay and quartz; the hematite and goethite (generally from 20 to 60% of the content) determining its color—the more hematite the redder the pigment—with the others being inert substances that can vary the opacity or tinting strength.

Red iron oxide or ferric oxide is the principle coloring agent in red earths, such as Armenian Mummy Red Light. This pigment has an unusually low content of the natural mineral hematite (less than 12%) associated with larger amounts of clay and silica. The low iron oxide content makes it wonderfully transparent. It also differs from yellow iron oxides in that it does not contain water bound with iron oxide. In other words, the iron to which it owes its color is iron oxide not iron oxide hydroxide.

Series: 3

Opacity: Semi-Transparent

Tinting Strength: Low

Drying Rate: Medium

ASTM Lightfastness: I

Permanence: A - Permanent

Safety Information: There are no acute or known chronic health hazards associated with the anticipated use of this product (most chemicals are not fully tested for chronic toxicity). Always protect yourself against potentially unknown chronic hazards of this and other chemical products by keeping them out of your body. Do this by avoiding ingestion, excessive skin contact, and inhalation of spraying mists, sanding dusts and vapors from heating. Conforms to ASTM D-4236