DEATH BY WALLPAPER: Colourful Stories of Chemical Pigments and Dyes

Was Napoleon killed by his green wallpaper?

This story begins in 1775, with a German chemist and his experiments with arsenic. The resulting powerful green reached its height of popularity when worn by "Queen of Fashion", Empress Eugénie. It was printed on wallpaper by Morris & Co. and was a favourite of plein-air artists, such as Monet, Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh, keen to capture the freshness of nature. But a century later, it was rebranded as rat-poison.

In 1856 a chemistry student took home a school project to make synthetic quinine. He failed his home-work, but accidentally invented a vibrant purple dye. Queen Victoria and Empress Eugénie wore dresses in the season's must-have shade. Punch dubbed the craze: "the mauve measles"!

Scheele's Green and Perkins' Mauveine were forerunners of hundreds of synthetic dyes and pigments. You will hear fascinating stories - of serendipitous discoveries, industrial enterprise, and some very sinister secrets.