In terms of painting materials, the modern era began in 1704, with the invention of Prussian Blue. . . .

The precise dating of pigment inventions gives us a formidable weapon in the matter of determining authenticity. A number of apparently old paintings have been betrayed by the presence of Prussian Blue.

—David Bomford, from The History of Colour in Art, an essay in Colour: Art & Science, edited by Trevor Lamb and Janine Bourriau, 1995.