Stories in Colour
Episodes
Deadly chemical cousins: oranges and yellows
03 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What makes two volcano-born pigments so dangerous? Hint: they weren’t scorching hot when artists used them. Orpiment and realgar both contain arseni...
A blue more expensive than gold − ultramarine
27 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Travel with us beyond the sea to look at ultramarine, a pigment that was once even more precious than gold.In this episode, writer Victoria Finlay joi...
What is synaesthesia? Can you hear colour?
20 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to a new series of 'Stories in Colour'. To kick off, we’re tackling one of the topics we received the most questions about − synaesth...
Stories in Colour Returns – Series 2 Trailer
20 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does colour sound like? Why was mauve the brat green of the Victorian era? And is pink really just for girls?Welcome back to another series of 'S...
The story of gold: modern imaginations (part three)
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When the artist Louise Nevelson immigrated to America as a child, she was told that ‘the streets... would be paved in gold’. Obviously, ...
The story of gold: devotion and design (part two)
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When did gold become a colour? In this episode we journey from the majestic mosaics of the Byzantine era to the brilliantly burnished panel paint...
The story of gold: ancient origins (part one)
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to Stories in Colour! And welcome to the first episode of our new miniseries in which we'll be telling the story of a rare, sparkling and...
The Story of Gold - Miniseries Trailer
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to a new miniseries of ‘Stories in Colour’. The National Gallery’s vibrant podcast returns to tell the story of a rare, sparkling and gl...
Painting the rainbow
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly is a rainbow and how is it formed? Why does it have seven colours? And what have rainbows symbolised in mythologies and art? Join co...
How snails made purple a royal colour
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we see purple as the colour of royalty? It all starts on the Mediterranean coast with some unassuming, and eventually very unfortunate, seasnai...
The fear of colour: chromophobia
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Where did all the colour go? And how might Western culture have feared it, or deemed it superficial, in art and philosophy? We celebrate the 25th anni...
Don’t eat your deadly greens
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why does the colour green remind you of poison and radioactivity? We're telling the story of two toxic green pigments to find out. Their stories inter...
Why we feel what we feel about colour
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're asking how we feel about colour – or more accurately how colours make us feel – and whether that's the same for all of us. Join colour ...
How bugs turned the world red
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're on the search for the 'perfect red' with a pigment and dye that was so prized that it inspired international espionage and piracy, carried the d...
The first modern synthetic pigment
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meet an enigmatic pigment discovered entirely by accident at the start of the 18th century. Its story involves a rogue inventor with an unlikely conne...
Do you see the same colour I see?
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Stories in Colour! We're starting at the very beginning to ask an age-old question: are the colours you see, the same as the colours I see?...
Introducing: Stories in Colour - Series 1 Trailer
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How has colour changed the world? A vibrant new podcast from the National Gallery, Stories in Colour launches with our first two episodes on Wednesday...