An image of a Microscope with the tools around like paint pigment, Fibers, Scalpel, and Tweezers. Above this image, the following text is written: Examining samples Using scalpels and tweezers, experts take tiny samples from a painting to examine the painted surface. An image of a visible light with the following text: Interpreting visible light This is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum to which human eyes are sensitive. Paint pigments reflect some parts of the visible spectrum and absorb others, so the eye perceives them as colored. Third image shows carmine pigment, cochineal beetles, yellow lake pigment, buckthorn berries, powdered pigment, ultramarine pigment, and lapis lazuli was ground to a powder to make ultramine pigment. Beside this image, the following text is written: Natural Materials Before the 1800s, most pigments used by artists were from natural sources. Many, including yellow lake, were obtained from plants. Some, such as carmine or cochineal, were of animal origin. Others, like ultramine, came from minerals. The fourth image shows a synthetic pigment in the microscope that has round, fine particles and a natural pigment that has rough, crystalline particles. Besides this image, the following text is written: Under the microscope High magnifications (100 to 500 times) show the physical structure of pigment particles. Here, the particles in the sample of synthetic ultramine are different from those in the natural sample. Synthetic ultramine was introduced in 1828, so paintings using this pigment could not have been made earlier than that year.