Each color in this library is named by proximity: we identify the closest historical color name to the hex values extracted from works in our collection. A name like Mummy Brown or Scheele's Green tells you what that color was called by the people who made and used it — not that the artist reached for that particular pigment. Paul Klee may not have touched a drop of Gallstone Yellow. He just painted something that looked a lot like it.

This index is open source. The full dataset is freely available, and we add to it as the collection grows. If you're a color historian, a designer, or just someone who thinks "Veinous Blood Red" deserved a comeback — you're in the right place.