0:00:00 > 0:00:00- Subtitles
0:00:00 > 0:00:02- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:00:11 > 0:00:14- They say that we dream - in black and white.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19- Is that also - the way we see the past?
0:00:24 > 0:00:27- My name is Sara - and I work here at St Fagans.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31- Before I came here, I saw the past - as a fairly colourless place.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34- There was yellow, - brown, grey and vellum.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38- Gradually I'm learning that - the past is a very colourful place.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42- In my world, - colour appeared in Wales...
0:00:42 > 0:00:47- ..around the same time as Sunlight - soap adverts and Cymru'r Plant.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52- It was a shock to discover - the bright and vivid decorations...
0:00:52 > 0:00:56- ..used in churches and homes - hundreds of years ago.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00- In the Middle Ages, colourful - churches like St Teilo's...
0:01:00 > 0:01:03- ..were to be found - the length and breadth of Wales.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08- To the people of the time, there was - nothing more colourful than nature.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12- For artists of the time, nature - was the source of their paint.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15- To decorate buildings like this...
0:01:15 > 0:01:18- ..they made red, - yellow and green pigments...
0:01:18 > 0:01:22- ..from common minerals - such as iron, lead and copper.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27- But one colour in the palette of the - period was much harder to create.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34- St Teilo's church - mainly dates back to Tudor times.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39- The most valuable pigment at - that time was lapis lazuli - blue.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43- It was more scarce - and more precious than gold.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47- The reason is that it was only found - in places such as Afghanistan.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50- It had to be brought - from Afghanistan...
0:01:50 > 0:01:54- ..to Loughor and Pontarddulais - where this church was built.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57- Then it was turned into paint.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59- After going to such trouble...
0:01:59 > 0:02:03- ..the paint was reserved for - the church's most precious pieces.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05- At that time, - it would have been Mary.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10- You would have found a sculpture - like this in every parish in Wales.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15- But during the Protestant - Reformation, most were destroyed.
0:02:17 > 0:02:23- Over the last few decades, we have - learnt which pigments people used...
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- ..and how they made paint with them.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34- We're going to use an egg yolk - and mix it with lapis lazuli.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40- I need to add water to the yolk - to create a more elastic paint.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43- I'll just mix it quickly.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50- I'll take some pigment and arrange - it as if we were making bread...
0:02:50 > 0:02:52- ..with a hole in the centre.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58- The way we mix paint is to press the - pigment between two layers of glass.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08- As you can see, - the paint is a really bright colour.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13- Compared to the dull, dark, earthy - colours of red, yellow and brown...
0:03:13 > 0:03:17- ..this would have been stunning - to look at during the Middle Ages.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- Tudor lapis lazuli paint.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25- S4C Subtitles by Testun Cyf.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26- .