[4]: 378  Umber's advantages are its highly versatile color, warm tone, and quick drying abilities.

[5]: 148–49  While some sources indicate that umber's name comes from its geographic origin in Umbria, other scholars suggest that it derives from the Latin word umbra, which means "shadow".

[citation needed] The earliest documented uses of umber date from between 200 BC and 600 AD in the Ajanta Caves found in India.

[10] Umber was valuable in deploying this technique, creating a range of earth like tones with various layering of color.

[citation needed] Toward the end of the 19th century, the Impressionist movement started to use cheaper and more readily available synthetic dyes and reject natural pigments like umber to create mixed hues of brown.

[12] These warm and earthy tones make it a valuable and versatile pigment for oil painting and other artwork.

[13] It is insoluble in water, resistant to alkalis and weak acids, and non-reactive with cement, solvents, oils, and most resins.

[15] In the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci used umber for the brown tones throughout his subject's hair and clothing.

[14] Da Vinci also extensively used umber in his painting the Last Supper to create shadows and outlines of the figures.