pigment

According to legend, Tyre is the place where purple pigment was first created - the dye crushed out of snail shells to embroider royal robes.

Moreover, with cities increasingly opening up to newer cultures and people, indigenous methods of building - like using lime plaster in hotter climes - are being replaced with newer techniques like using cement or concrete, which do not absorb the blue pigment well.

If pressed, some argue the indignation over the defacement itself betrays how little our culture values the planet when compared to inanimate works of canvas and pigment.

Spain’s 16th century conquest of Mexico created a huge and profitable European market for the rich pigment, hitherto unknown on that continent.

The plant is a ghost orchid - a rare flower with no leaves or chlorophyll - the green pigment that absorbs sunlight so that plants can turn it into energy.