Il verde di Parigi: un pigmento killer

Franco Alhaique

doi:10.1473/rk81pe53

Pagine di storia

Vol. 5 No. 5 (2025): Chimica nella Scuola n. 5 2025

Il verde di Parigi: un pigmento killer

Franco Alhaique

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DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1473/rk81pe53
Submitted: 2 February 2026
Published: 2 February 2026

Abstract

The fascinating story of Paris Green and of the previous pigment, Scheele’s Green, both containing arsenic, is reported here. The problem of poisoning from interior decorations and clothes is described, together with the use of Paris green as rodenticide and for the fight against malaria.

References

J. T. Hindmarsh, P. F. Corso, The death of Napoleon Bonaparte: a critical review of the cause, Journal of the History of Medicine & Allied Sciences, 1998, 53(3), 201-218.
G. Majori, Il laboratorio di Malariologia e l’eradicazione della malaria in Italia, in Il Laboratorio di Malariologia, Quaderno 5, a cura di G. Majori e F. Napolitani Cheyne, 2010 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251965938_quaderno_5_malaria_xweb).
A. Meier, Death by wallpaper: The alluring arsenic colors that poisoned the Victorian Age, Hyperallergic, October 31, 2016 (https://hyperallergic.com/death-by-wallpaper-alluring-arsenic-colors-poisoned-the-victorian-age/).
M. F. Hughes, et al., Arsenic exposure and toxicology: a historical perspective, Toxicological Sciences, 2011, 123(2), 305-332 (doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfr184).
R. Nicoletti, Arsenico, tallio e vecchi merletti, in Molecole in Primo Piano 2018, 3, 13.
K. Kelleher, Scheele’s Green, the Color of Fake Foliage and Death, The Paris Review, May 2, 2018 (https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/02/scheeles-green-the-color-of-fake-foliage-and-death/).
L. Antunes Simoes, Une déco… mortelle! (https://www.liseantunessimoes.com/une-deco-mortelle/).
R. Poeti, La storia del pigmento Verde Scheele del chimico svedese Carl Scheele (https://www.robertopoetichimica.it/la-storia-del-pigmento-verde-del-chimico-svedese-carl-scheele/).
R. Poeti, La storia del verde brillante (https://ilblogdellasci.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/la-storia-del-verde-brillante/).
J. Banham, Arsenic and Old Wallpapers, Journal of Victorian Culture Online, December 14, 2023 (https://jvc.oup.com/2023/12/14/arsenic-and-old-wallpapers/).
L. Pantoja Munoz, Hidden in plain sight: revisiting the synthesis, characterisation, degradation and the intricate relationship between Scheele’s green and Emerald green, Heritage Science, 2024, 12, 94 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-024-01192-7).
S. Russick, et al., Toxic Tales: Arsenic’s Legacy in Nineteenth-century Green Book Bindings at Northwestern University Libraries, Studies in Conservation, 2025, 70(7–8), 745-761 (https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2025.2460403).
S. Carboni Marri, et al., Discovering the dual degradation pathway of emerald green in oil paints: The effects of light and humidity, Sci. Adv. 2025, 11(47) (https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.ady1807).

Keywords

verde di Parigi
verde di Scheele
arsenico
tossicità
prevenzione malaria

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Il verde di Parigi: un pigmento killer. (2026). Chimica Nella Scuola, 5(5), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.1473/rk81pe53

[1] J. T. Hindmarsh, P. F. Corso, The death of Napoleon Bonaparte: a critical review of the cause, Journal of the History of Medicine & Allied Sciences, 1998, 53(3), 201-218.

[2] G. Majori, Il laboratorio di Malariologia e l’eradicazione della malaria in Italia, in Il Laboratorio di Malariologia, Quaderno 5, a cura di G. Majori e F. Napolitani Cheyne, 2010 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251965938_quaderno_5_malaria_xweb).

[3] A. Meier, Death by wallpaper: The alluring arsenic colors that poisoned the Victorian Age, Hyperallergic, October 31, 2016 (https://hyperallergic.com/death-by-wallpaper-alluring-arsenic-colors-poisoned-the-victorian-age/).

[4] M. F. Hughes, et al., Arsenic exposure and toxicology: a historical perspective, Toxicological Sciences, 2011, 123(2), 305-332 (doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfr184).

[5] R. Nicoletti, Arsenico, tallio e vecchi merletti, in Molecole in Primo Piano 2018, 3, 13.

[6] K. Kelleher, Scheele’s Green, the Color of Fake Foliage and Death, The Paris Review, May 2, 2018 (https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/02/scheeles-green-the-color-of-fake-foliage-and-death/).

[7] L. Antunes Simoes, Une déco… mortelle! (https://www.liseantunessimoes.com/une-deco-mortelle/).

[8] R. Poeti, La storia del pigmento Verde Scheele del chimico svedese Carl Scheele (https://www.robertopoetichimica.it/la-storia-del-pigmento-verde-del-chimico-svedese-carl-scheele/).

[9] R. Poeti, La storia del verde brillante (https://ilblogdellasci.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/la-storia-del-verde-brillante/).

[10] J. Banham, Arsenic and Old Wallpapers, Journal of Victorian Culture Online, December 14, 2023 (https://jvc.oup.com/2023/12/14/arsenic-and-old-wallpapers/).

[11] L. Pantoja Munoz, Hidden in plain sight: revisiting the synthesis, characterisation, degradation and the intricate relationship between Scheele’s green and Emerald green, Heritage Science, 2024, 12, 94 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-024-01192-7).

[12] S. Russick, et al., Toxic Tales: Arsenic’s Legacy in Nineteenth-century Green Book Bindings at Northwestern University Libraries, Studies in Conservation, 2025, 70(7–8), 745-761 (https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2025.2460403).

[13] S. Carboni Marri, et al., Discovering the dual degradation pathway of emerald green in oil paints: The effects of light and humidity, Sci. Adv. 2025, 11(47) (https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.ady1807).