On this Wikipedia the language links are at white chocolate mocha top of the page across from the article title. This article is about the color. Al-Haram mosque – Flickr – Al Jazeera English. It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black.
In ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, priestesses wore white as a symbol of purity, and Romans wore white togas as symbols of citizenship. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance a white unicorn symbolized chastity, and a white lamb sacrifice and purity. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, white is the color most often associated with perfection, the good, honesty, cleanliness, the beginning, the new, neutrality, and exactitude. White is an important color for almost all world religions. Catalan, Occitan and French blanc, Spanish blanco, Italian bianco, Galician-Portuguese branco, etc.
The antonym of white is black. Some non-European languages have a wide variety of terms for white. The Inuit language has seven different words for seven different nuances of white. White was one of the first colors used in art. The Lascaux Cave in France contains drawings of bulls and other animals drawn by paleolithic artists between 18,000 and 17,000 years ago. In ancient Egypt, white was connected with the goddess Isis. The priests and priestesses of Isis dressed only in white linen, and it was used to wrap mummies.
In Greece and other ancient civilizations, white was often associated with mother’s milk. In Greek mythology, the chief god Zeus was nourished at the breast of the nymph Amalthea. In the Talmud, milk was one of four sacred substances, along with wine, honey, and the rose. The ancient Greeks saw the world in terms of darkness and light, so white was a fundamental color. Magistrates and certain priests wore a toga praetexta, with a broad purple stripe.
In the time of the Emperor Augustus, no Roman man was allowed to appear in the Roman forum without a toga. A man who wanted public office in Rome wore a white toga brightened with chalk, called a toga candida, the origin of the word candidate. The Latin word candere meant to shine, to be bright. It was the origin of the words candle and candid. In ancient Rome, the priestesses of the goddess Vesta dressed in white linen robes, a white palla or shawl, and a white veil. They protected the sacred fire and the penates of Rome. White symbolized their purity, loyalty, and chastity.
The priests of her cult wore white linen. Statue of the chief Vestal Virgin, wearing a white palla and a white veil. The early Christian church adopted the Roman symbolism of white as the color of purity, sacrifice and virtue. Postclassical history art, the white lamb became the symbol of the sacrifice of Christ on behalf of mankind.
John the Baptist described Christ as the lamb of God, who took the sins of the world upon himself. White was also the symbolic color of the transfiguration. The Gospel of Saint Mark describes Jesus’ clothing in this event as “shining, exceeding white as snow. Artists such as Fra Angelico used their skill to capture the whiteness of his garments. The white unicorn was a common subject of Postclassical history manuscripts, paintings and tapestries. It was a symbol of purity, chastity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin. It was often portrayed in the lap of the Virgin Mary.
Renaissance, the influential humanist and scholar Leon Battista Alberti encouraged artists to add white to their colors to make them lighter, brighter, and to add hilaritas, or gaiety. Many painters followed his advice, and the palette of the Renaissance was considerably brighter. Until the 16th century, white was commonly worn by widows as a color of mourning. The widows of the kings of France wore white until Anne of Brittany in the 16th century. A white tunic was also worn by many knights, along with a red cloak, which showed the knights were willing to give their blood for the king or Church. They later changed to black robes, the color of humility and penitence. Dominican Order, white became the official color worn by the Pope.
The white lamb in the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck. Mary Stuart wore white in mourning for her husband, King Francis II of France, who died in 1560. White was the dominant color of architectural interiors in the Baroque period and especially the Rococo style that followed it in the 18th century. Church interiors were designed to show the power, glory and wealth of the church. They seemed to be alive, filled with curves, asymmetry, mirrors, gilding, statuary and reliefs, unified by white. White was also a fashionable color for both men and women in the 18th century. Men in the aristocracy and upper classes wore powdered white wigs and white stockings, and women wore elaborate embroidered white and pastel gowns.