Lapis lazuli is one of the oldest gemstones known. That’s why there are dozens of fakes evolved since antiquity. In ancient Egypt, lapis lazuli was a favorite stone for amulets and ornaments such as scarabs. Ground into powder, lapis lazuli produces ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments, which was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque (Titian, Vermeer).
