Keywords
Art History
Painting
Red lead. A crimson red pigment *ganryō 顔料 produced from lead oxide Pb O. Entan has a yellowish-red color which changes to purplish-brown and then to grey when exposed to air. Its earliest use in Japan is not known, but examples of entan in murals survive from the 7th century, including the mural in Nara's Hōryūji *Kondō 法隆寺金堂 showing Amida Nyorai 阿弥陀如来. Entan, *shu 朱, and red earth pigment *bengara 弁柄 are the most important red mineral-based paints *iwa-enogu 岩絵具 found in Japanese painting *nihonga 日本画, and are still used today.