Franciscus Aguilonius

In this, possibly the oldest system to use the trio of red, yellow and blue, colours are defined within a linear division. Their mixing options can be deduced using bows. «One can see in his achievement the quietness of the monastery, which can permeate into the smallest detail of a work» was Goethe’s comment on the work Franciscus Aguilonius, whom he rated highly. (Detailed text)


Date: The colour diagram appeared in 1613 in a work on optics.

Country of origin: Belgium

Basic colours: Yellow, red and blue appear between white and black

Form: Bow

Related systems: Pythagoras, Aristotle, PlatonNewtonGoethe

Bibliography: F. Aguilonius, opticorum Libri Sex, Antwerpen 1613; J. W. von Goethe, Geschichte der Farbenlehre, Part 1, Munich, 1963; F. Gerritsen, Entwicklung der Farbenlehre, Göttingen 1984; John Gage, Colour and Culture, Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction, Thames and Hudson, 1993 (mention and comment).