Mapping Color in History

FAIN: HAA-290367-23

President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA 02138-3800)
Jinah Kim (Project Director: June 2022 to present)
Rashmi Singhal (Co Project Director: January 2023 to present)
Jeff Steward (Co Project Director: January 2023 to present)

The continued development of the Mapping Color in History (MCH) portal that allows scholars to analyze and compare pigment data from historical paintings.

Mapping Color in History [MCH] brings together the scientific data drawn from existing and on-going material analyses of pigments in Asian painting in a historical perspective. As a digital portal with a searchable online database, MCH does not only document pigments and their material properties, but also enable an in-depth historical analysis of pigment data through a search tool that identifies specific examples and their locations in both time and space. By developing a database ontology that can bring together fragmentary and uneven data with complex lateral and hierarchical relationships and by compiling pigment analysis data and deep historical research in a systematic manner, MCH enables truly interdisciplinary research and collaboration, connecting humanists and scientists.