What does lapis lazuli do-What does lapis lazuli do?

Lapis lazuli has an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, figurines and vases. Interior objects and decorative buildings can also be made of lapis lazuli. The two pillars of the iconoclast of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg are made of lapis lazuli. During the Renaissance, lapis lazuli was ground and processed into clusters of blue pigments used in murals and paintings. Its use as an oil paint largely ended in the early 19th century, when chemically identical synthetic varieties were available.

Lapis lazuli is synthesized or simulated by the Gilson process and is used in the manufacture of artificial ultramarine and zinc phosphate hydrate. It can also be replaced with spinel or almanite, or dyed jasper or garnet.