Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c9.s3.14

c9.s3.14

Realgar or red arsenic (*manaḥśilā*). This brilliant red was very rarely used in medieval Western Indian miniatures. It is a first cousin of the orpiment and is also a sulphide of arsenic. It yields as beautiful an orange yellow as the orpiment. According to the *Śilparatna*¹⁸, realgar (*manaḥśilā*) was reduced to fine powder and then used as a colour.