The definitive book on the use of colour and paint in interior decoration over a three-hundred year period, The Anatomy of Colour is certain to appeal to both amateur and professional restorers, renovators, enthusiastic decorators and all those with an interest in interior decoration and design.

Drawing on his huge specialist archive, Patrick Baty traces the evolution of pigments and paint colours together with colour systems and standards, and examines their impact on the colour palettes used in interiors from the 1660s to the 1960s. He first charts the creation in paint of the common and expensive colours made from traditional earth pigments between 1650 to 1799. Next he examines the emergence of colour systems and standards and their influence on paint colours together with the effect of industrialized production on the texture and durability of paints. Finally, Baty turns his attention to 20th-century colour standards, including those developed originally for the purpose of identifying flowers, such as the Répertoire de Couleurs des Fleurs, des Feuillages et des Fruits, each incarnation of the British Colour Standard cards, Walpamur paint swatch cards and Parson's Tint Book of Historical Colours.

Throughout the book reproductions of interiors highlighting the distinctive colour trends and styles of painting particular to each period and room accompany the in-depth analysis of the history of colour and the development and use of paint colours in interior design.