What if ink was more valuable than gold? Blending secretions from different Murex species results in the most vibrant colors through the transfer of properties where blues, violets and reds bind together to form a unique combination with each mixture. Mentioned by Pliny in his encyclopedia of natural history and found by Augusti in Pompeii in the form of powder, Purpurissum is a pigment used for painting which results from soaking a base or a medium in the dye bath until it sucks up the colorant forming a colored paste that has the consistency of a paint. The earliest trace of Purpurissum was identified in several wall paintings in Akrotiri island dating back to the 16th century BC.