The brown was this same hue darkened.

In comparatively rare instances the Babylonians made use of a red, which they probably obtained with some difficulty.

Objects were colored, as nearly as possible, according to their natural tints--water a light blue, ground yellow, the shafts of spears black, lions a tawny brown, etc.

No attempt was made to shade the figures or the landscape, much less to produce any general effect by means of _chiaroscuro_; but the artist trusted for his effect to a careful delineation of forms, and a judicious arrangement of simple hues.
Considerable metallurgic knowledge and skill were shown in the composition of the pigments, and the preparation and application of the glaze wherewith they are covered.

The red used was a sub-oxide of copper; the yellow was sometimes oxide of iron, sometimes antimoniate of lead--the Naples yellow of modern artists; the blue was either cobalt or oxide of copper; the white was oxide of tin.