A bright red pigment made of mercuric sulphide that was for centuries the only bright red pigment of importance on the palette. Now replaced by Cadmium Red, it was an excellent permanent red pigment except for 2 flaws: it was poisonous, and in rare cases it could turn black. It is the synthetic version of the natural (but inferior) Cinnabar. Known since ancient times in the natural form it was first synthesised in China and introduced to Europe during the dark ages. It had the peculiar property of getting redder the finer it was ground and it was said that apprentices in old master days hated the color due to the amount of grinding (by hand) of the vermilion that was expected in most studios.