We develop a novel approach to measuring long-run economic growth by exploiting systematic variation in the use of color in European paintings. Drawing inspiration from the literature on nighttime lights as a proxy for income, we extract hue, saturation, and brightness from millions of pixels to construct annual indices for Great Britain, Holland, France, Italy, and Germany between 1600 and 1820. These indices track broad trends in existing GDP reconstructions while revealing higherfrequency fluctuations-such as those associated with wars, political instability, and climatic shocks-that traditional series smooth over. Our findings demonstrate that light, decomposed into color and brightness components, provides a credible and independent source of information on early modern economic activity.

Caution: PDF

As a photographer, I’ve noticed that no two photos of a given painting ever look the same. There is much variation due to lighting, color temperature, sensor capabilities, etc. Without controlling for these variables, it’s hard to see how comparisons can be made accurately.

“Our findings [show] that light […] provides a credible and independent source of information on early modern economic activity.”

Wow!

Interesting idea.