That beautiful blue -lapis lazuli – so expensive in Medieval Europe you had to be very rich, or have a wealthy patron, to use it was also called in Latin ultramarinus (meaning “beyond the sea”) and was imported from the east by Italian traders sometime after the 9th century.

There was once a BBC program about paintings and forgeries that delved deeply into the history of paint colorings and how they determine the age of a painting.
Apparently, Vermeer, who in the 1600s painted the gorgeous Girl with the Pearl Earring and brilliant blue headscarf so loved the ultramarinus color he almost bankrupted his family using it.

Then the French invented something similar and much cheaper in the 1800s using I think cobalt and tin.