Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Would you send a poisonous card to the love of your life?
February 14th has been celebrated as the feast of Saint Valentine since the 5th century, but it wasn’t until the late Middle Ages that the day became associated with romantic love.
The first commercial cards appeared at the end of the 18th century. During the Victorian era, their popularity exploded, coinciding with the rapid development of new synthetic pigments and dyes. The glowing greens used in many Victorian Valentine’s cards are quite likely to have been Emerald Green, a toxic pigment made with arsenic. Read more about the surprising use of certain pigments as aphrodisiacs, why red is the colour of love, and how the use of one pigment in the nineteenth century may have made desire a dangerous business on our blog: jacksonsart.com/blog/2026/02/05/pigments-in-the-everyday-love-and-colour/?utm_campaign=ps_love_and_colour&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_shorts_to_blog
Filmed by the Jackson’s Team in the Jackson’s Studio. This film features Evie Hatch, Studio and Materials Specialist at Jackson’s Art Supplies.
Would you send a poisonous card to the love of your life?
February 14th has been celebrated as the feast of Saint Valentine since the 5th century, but it wasn’t until the late Middle Ages that the day became associated with romantic love.
The first commercial cards appeared at the end of the 18th century. During the Victorian era, their popularity exploded, coinciding with the rapid development of new synthetic pigments and dyes. The glowing greens used in many Victorian Valentine’s cards are quite likely to have been Emerald Green, a toxic pigment made with arsenic. Read more about the surprising use of certain pigments as aphrodisiacs, why red is the colour of love, and how the use of one pigment in the nineteenth century may have made desire a dangerous business on our blog: jacksonsart.com/blog/2026/02/05/pigments-in-the-everyday-love-and-colour/?utm_campaign=ps_love_and_colour&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_shorts_to_blog
Filmed by the Jackson’s Team in the Jackson’s Studio. This film features Evie Hatch, Studio and Materials Specialist at Jackson’s Art Supplies.
