Though white light is not a colour, when white is used as a physical pigment it is considered one. White pigments come from a variety of sources such as calcite, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and lead. Toxic lead white was notoriously – and fatally – used by many artists and as a cosmetic product, such as Venetian ceruse, for centuries.

In many parts of the modern world, white is seen as the colour of everything light and pure; of weddings and winter wonderlands. In some regions it has stood for purity, innocence and cleanliness, and in others death, mourning and the passage to new life; in many, it has represented the divine.

To the human eye, white light is a combination of all the colours on the spectrum. Like black, it is technically achromatic, and lacks hue. So why is it that artists have been fascinated by the colour white for centuries? Read on to discover more about the cultural history of this fascinating non-colour.