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īlack is the most common ink color used for printing books, newspapers and documents, as it provides the highest contrast with white paper and thus is the easiest color to read. According to surveys in Europe and North America, it is the color most commonly associated with mourning, the end, secrets, magic, force, violence, fear, evil, and elegance. It became the color worn by English romantic poets, businessmen and statesmen in the 19th century, and a high fashion color in the 20th century. In the 14th century, it was worn by royalty, clergy, judges, and government officials in much of Europe. In the Roman Empire, it became the color of mourning, and over the centuries it was frequently associated with death, evil, witches, and magic. It was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as the color of the underworld.
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īlack was one of the first colors used by artists in Neolithic cave paintings. Since the Middle Ages, black has been the symbolic color of solemnity and authority, and for this reason it is still commonly worn by judges and magistrates. Black and white have often been used to describe opposites such as good and evil, the Dark Ages versus Age of Enlightenment, and night versus day. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. Clockwise, from top left: Anubis statue American black bear Galaxy NGC 406 The Supreme Court of the United States Portrait painting of Queen Victoria.īlack is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light.
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