In early 1799, Goethe and Schiller developed a “rose of temperaments”. It presents a psychological overview of six basic colours and six intermediate shades. It is easy to find oneself agreeing with their not entirely objective conclusions. They attribute a preference for the colours purple and blue-red to overlords and philosophers, saying that these are the colours of those with a melancholic temperament. By contrast, those with a choleric temperament, often the preserve of tyrants, heroes and adventurers, have a love of yellowy red, a touch of purple with yellow.
In this context, we can consider Goethe and Schiller’s temperament rose from 1799. Amongst other works, both illustrations appeared in Goethe’s Theory of Colour by Ruprecht Matthei (publisher).