What exactly is a rainbow and how is it formed? Why does it have seven colours? And what have rainbows symbolised in mythologies and art?
Join colour expert Dr Alexandra Loske, National Gallery Principal Scientist Joseph Padfield and National Gallery host Beks Leary as they cover rainbows from Noah’s Ark to Olafur Eliasson, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to Georges Seurat’s ‘The Rainbow’ study.
Alexandra is a colour expert, writer, art historian and museum curator. Her exhibition 'Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion' is on display at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton until October 2025.
Joseph is a Principal Scientist at the National Gallery. He brings a wealth of expertise across multiple domains, including preventive conservation, museum lighting, colour science and the technical examination of paintings.
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? Find out more about the paintings mentioned in this episode:
Angelica Kauffman RA, ‘Colouring’, 1778-80. Royal Academy of Arts, London © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/colour
Jan Van Eyck, ‘The Annunciation’, about 1434/1436. National Gallery of Art, Washington https://www.nga.gov/artworks/46-annunciation
Bartolomé Bermejo, ‘Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil’, 1468. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/bartolome-bermejo-saint-michael-triumphs-over-the-devil
John Constable, ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows’, exhibited 1831. Tate © Photo: Tate https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-salisbury-cathedral-from-the-meadows-t13896
John Everett Millais, ‘The Blind Girl’, 1856. Birmingham Museums Trust © Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust https://dams.birminghammuseums.org.uk/assetbank-birminghammuseums/action/viewAsset?id=3114&index=22&total=215&view=viewSearchItem
Georges Seurat, ‘The Rainbow: Study for 'Bathers at Asnières'’, 1883. The National Gallery, London https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/georges-seurat-the-rainbow-study-for-bathers-at-asnieres
Further reading:
Alexandra Loske, Colour: A Visual History, 2019
Find out more about the exhibition ‘Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion’ at The Royal Pavilion, Brighton: https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/event/colour/
Isaac Newton, Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light, 1704
Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album art: http://www.hipgnosiscovers.com/pinkfloyd/darksideofthemoon.html
Find out more about Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Your Rainbow Panorama’ (2011): https://www.aros.dk/en/art/the-collection/olafur-eliasson-your-rainbow-panorama-2011/
Find out more about the work of Andy Goldsworthy: https://andygoldsworthystudio.com/
Find out more about Hiroshi Sugimoto’s works ‘Opticks’: https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/polarized-color-1
Find out more about artist and writer David Batchelor: https://www.davidbatchelor.co.uk/works/installations/
Find out more about Constable and solar geometry: https://www.tate.org.uk/research/in-focus/salisbury-cathedral-constable/reassessing-the-rainbow
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Episode Credits:
Guests: Dr Alexandra Loske and Joseph Padfield
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren and Tom Gulliver
Editor: Jeanne Kenyon and Paul Frankl
Theme music: Theo Elwell
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