Jacob Christoph Le Blon

Jacob Christoph Le Blon
Born
Jacob Christoph Le Blon

2 May 1667
Frankfurt am Main
Died16 May 1741 (1741-05-17) (aged 74)
Paris
NationalityCitizen of the Free imperial city of Frankfurt
4-colour mezzotint of Louis XV by Le Blon, 1739
Page from Le Blon's 1725 Coloritto describing his RYB three-color printing process[1]

Jacob Christoph Le Blon, or Jakob Christoffel Le Blon, (2 May 1667 – 16 May 1741) was a painter and engraver from Frankfurt who invented a halftone color printing system with three and four copper dyes using an RYB color model, which served as the foundation for the modern CMYK system.[2] He used the mezzotint method to engrave three or four copper plates (one each per printing ink) to make prints of paintings and portraits with a wide range of colors.

  1. ^ Steven K. Shevell, ed. (2003). The Science of Color (2nd ed.). Elsevier. ISBN 0-444-51251-9.
  2. ^ O. M. Lilien (1985). Jacob Christoph Le Blon, 1667-1741: Inventor of three- and four colour printing. Stuttgart: Hiersemann.