A Little Book on Colors

black, which is like charcoal. And thence by Virgil ash is called black (ater) and black embers (fauilla). Furthermore, blood, being a participant in heat and a fiery color, when spilled and cooled, having lost its redness—as if changed into coal—is called black (ater) by everyone. Death is also called black because the corpse, having lost that vital heat by which the body is nourished, is left black, like coal; which seems to me a very elegant comparison. Why is it that Black days "black days" (atri dies) were so called for the same reason? For those that brought mourning were marked with charcoal, just as on the contrary happy days were marked with white gypsum, whence Horace says:

To be marked with chalk or charcoal?
How Black (ater) differs from Dark (niger).

It differs from the color dark (niger) in this: that just as every black (ater) is dark (niger), so not every dark is black. The latter is horrible, sad, unpleasant to behold, and suited to those mourning; the former, on the contrary, is sometimes elegant and beautiful, as are many human eyes, which no one would call black (atros), but dark (nigros), and yet we look at them with no greater pleasure. But Black (Ater) was also called by the ancients Anthracinus (coal-colored), and the same as Furuus (dusky). Much less dark than these are Liuidus (livid) and Fuscus (brown). The former, arising from a heavy blow to the body, has a deformity. Whence the envious, as if mangled by lashes—and for that reason bloodless—are called Liuidi. The latter is not unpleasant, and in a person is very often praised. But if it exceeds moderation, and is especially dark, it is called Preſſus (pressed): as a garment that has been pressed for some time under a press is colored excessively. We also read of a Preſſus horse color. But otherwise, Coloriscae (garment-bands) were so called, which were not saturated, but