Sinopia

Sinopia (also known as sinoper, named after the Turkish city Sinop) is a dark reddish-brown natural earth pigment, whose reddish color comes from hematite, a dehydrated form of iron oxide. It was widely used in classical antiquity and the Middle Ages for painting, and during the Renaissance it was often used for the cartoon or preparatory drawing for a fresco. The word came to be used both for the pigment and for the preparatory drawing itself. During the Middle Ages synopia in Latin and Italian came to mean simply a red ochre. It entered the English language as the word sinoper, meaning a red earth color.