This entry represents the deepest, most concentrated grade of lapis lazuli pigment — the "first washing" of the purification process. Medieval and Renaissance painters distinguished between grades of ultramarine, with the finest reserved for the most sacred subjects.

Absolute, profound, and ancient. The deepest lapis represents the colour at its most intense — the blue of the night sky as seen from a high mountain, or the depth of the ocean at its clearest. It carries the full weight of 6,000 years of human reverence.

The grading of lapis lazuli — with the purest blue commanding the highest prices — created a pigment hierarchy that reflected the spiritual hierarchy of medieval painting subjects. Only the most important figures in a painting received the finest ultramarine; background figures might receive the lesser grades. The colour literally mapped theological importance.