One of the oldest synthetic pigments — Naples yellow (lead antimonite) was manufactured in Mesopotamia and Egypt as early as 2000 BCE. It dominated European painting from the Renaissance through the 18th century before cadmium replaced it.

Naples yellow is warm, generous, and unpretentious. It is the yellow of sun-warmed stone, of cream aged to gold, of the Italian landscape that made it famous. It is the most "painterly" of yellows — it mixes beautifully with whites for flesh tones.

Named after the area around Vesuvius where natural lead antimonite deposits were found. Used by Tiepolo, Canaletto, and Gainsborough to paint sunlit architecture. The warm, slightly muted tone of much 18th-century painting comes partly from Naples yellow — it lacks the aggressive brightness of cadmium but has great depth.