Lapis lazuli was already used more than 6000 years ago as a gemstone and is still popular today because of its unique colouring and special properties. This gemstone, which is also called lapislazuli, glaze stone or lapis, is composed of a blue and shiny mineral, which consists of different parts of lasurite, pyrite, calcite, sodalite and diopsid. Lapis Lazuli is not so much a mineral as a rock, to which it is increasingly added. The name lapis lazuli is derived from Latin, where lapis means stone and lazuli means blue. This stone was already a valuable commodity in ancient times, which was shipped over long distances as a decorative pearl or in other processed forms. Today, lapis lazuli is still popular as a gemstone because the blue colouring can provide considerable highlights in jewellery. In addition to its use as a gemstone, lapis lazuli was also important for painting. As pigment the bright blue colour was won from the stone, which was used, for example, for the characteristic robes of the Virgin Mary in medieval painting.