The journey then leads you to meet Massimo, master of natural colours, who will welcome you into his atelier to present his botanical collection and introduce you to the fascinating world of natural dyeing. Here, ancient knowledge and experimentation come together in a contemporary rediscovery of natural pigments.
This journey explores the history of the city and its surrounding region, following the thread of the production and trade of these precious natural colours.
We will explore the production of purple dye, attested by archaeological excavations in the city, and see how in this very workshop the ancient technique of extracting purple pigment from molluscs of the Murex genus has been revived.
We will speak about dye plants and their many uses, before immersing ourselves in the history of woad and the colour blue — once the colour of power, wealth, and allure. Woad and indigo, the two plants that fuelled the fashion for blue between the 13th and the 20th centuries, travelled across centuries of trade and exchange.
Ancona was one of the main centres of this commerce. In the Middle Ages, the port city became a crucial link between East and West: woad from the Montefeltro area (in northern Marche region) was exported throughout Europe, while indigo arrived by sea from the Far East.
At a time when Venice sought to monopolise the trade of this precious colour, Ancona distinguished itself as a strategic alternative, becoming a vibrant crossroads of trade and culture.
