diff --git a/great_tables/_data_color/__init__.py b/great_tables/_data_color/__init__.py
index f7294843b..2eb6378c5 100644
--- a/great_tables/_data_color/__init__.py
+++ b/great_tables/_data_color/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 from .base import data_color
+from .matplotlib import data_color_mpl
 
-__all__ = ["data_color"]
+__all__ = ["data_color", "data_color_mpl"]
diff --git a/great_tables/_data_color/matplotlib.py b/great_tables/_data_color/matplotlib.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d78f581b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/great_tables/_data_color/matplotlib.py
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, List, Optional, Union
+
+import pandas as pd
+import polars as pl
+from matplotlib import colormaps as mpl_colormaps
+from matplotlib.colors import Colormap, ListedColormap, Normalize, to_hex
+
+from great_tables._data_color.base import _html_color, _ideal_fgnd_color
+from great_tables._data_color.constants import DEFAULT_PALETTE
+from great_tables._tbl_data import is_na
+from great_tables.loc import body
+from great_tables.style import fill, text
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from great_tables._types import GTSelf
+
+
+def is_numeric(x: Any) -> bool:
+    return isinstance(x, (int, float))
+
+
+def is_numeric_or_none(x: Any) -> bool:
+    return x is None or is_numeric(x)
+
+
+def data_color_mpl(
+    self: GTSelf,
+    columns: Union[str, List[str], None] = None,
+    rows: Union[int, list[int], None] = None,
+    cmap: Colormap | str | list[str] | None = None,
+    norm: Normalize | Callable[[float], float] | None = None,
+    na_color: Optional[str] = None,
+    alpha: Union[int, float] = 1.0,
+    reverse: bool = False,
+    autocolor_text: bool = True,
+) -> GTSelf:
+    """
+    Prototype for matplotlib-based colorization.
+
+    Perform data cell colorization.
+
+    - targeting: we can constrain which columns should receive the colorization treatment through
+    the `columns=` argument)
+    - colormap: we can specify the colormap to use with the `cmap_name=` argument
+    - normalization: we can specify the normalization function to use with the `norm=` argument,
+    which is a mapping from the data to the domain of the colormap, i.e. [0, 1]
+    - text autocoloring: `data_color()` will automatically recolor the foreground text to provide
+    the best contrast (can be deactivated with `autocolor_text=False`)
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    columns
+        The columns to target. Can either be a single column name or a series of column names
+        provided in a list.
+    rows
+        The rows to target. Can either be a single row index or a series of row indices provided in a
+        list.
+    cmap
+        The name of the colormap to use. This should be a valid matplotlib colormap name (e.g.,
+        `"viridis"`, `"plasma"`, `"inferno"`, `"magma"`, etc.). Can also be a
+        `matplotlib.colors.Colormap` object or a list of colors which are passed to ListedColormap
+        to construct a colormap.
+    norm
+        The normalization function to use. This can be a `matplotlib.colors.Normalize` object, a
+        callable function that takes a single float and returns a single float, or `None`. If `None`,
+        then the default normalization linearly scales the data to the range [0, 1].
+    na_color
+        The color to use for missing values. If `None`, then the default color (`"#808080"`) will be
+        used.
+    alpha
+        An optional, fixed alpha transparency value that will be applied to all color palette
+        values.
+    reverse
+        Should the colors computed operate in the reverse order? If `True` then colors that normally
+        change from red to blue will change in the opposite direction.
+    autocolor_text
+        Whether or not to automatically color the text of the data values. If `True`, then the text
+        will be colored according to the background color of the cell.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    GT
+        The GT object is returned. This is the same object that the method is called on so that we
+        can facilitate method chaining.
+    """
+
+    # If no color is provided to `na_color`, use a light gray color as a default
+    if na_color is None:
+        na_color = "#808080"
+    else:
+        na_color = _html_color(colors=[na_color], alpha=alpha)[0]
+
+    colormap = _handle_cmap_arg(cmap, reverse=reverse)
+
+    data_table = self._tbl_data
+    columns_resolved: List[str]
+
+    if isinstance(columns, str):
+        columns_resolved = [columns]
+    elif columns is None:
+        columns_resolved = data_table.columns
+    else:
+        columns_resolved = columns
+
+    rows_to_color = get_row_to_color_flags(rows, data_table)
+
+    # check all columns are numeric
+    for col in columns_resolved:
+        column_values = data_table[col].to_list()
+        if not all(map(is_numeric_or_none, column_values)):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Invalid column type provided ({col}) for data_color. Please ensure that all columns are numeric."
+            )
+
+    if norm is None:  # default normalization uses all data to min-max scale
+        data_subset = data_table[columns_resolved]
+        norm = _get_default_norm(data_subset, rows_to_color)
+
+    for col in columns_resolved:
+        column_values = data_table[col].to_list()
+
+        for row_nr, (value, should_color_row) in enumerate(zip(column_values, rows_to_color)):
+            if not should_color_row:
+                continue
+
+            if is_na(data_table, value):
+                color = na_color
+            else:
+                scaled_value = norm(value)
+                color_no_alpha = colormap(scaled_value)
+                color = (*color_no_alpha[:3], alpha)  # in RGBA format last value is alpha
+                color = to_hex(color, keep_alpha=True)
+
+            if autocolor_text:
+                fgnd_color = _ideal_fgnd_color(bgnd_color=color)
+
+                self = self.tab_style(
+                    style=[text(color=fgnd_color), fill(color=color)],
+                    locations=body(columns=col, rows=[row_nr]),
+                )
+
+            else:
+                self = self.tab_style(
+                    style=fill(color=color), locations=body(columns=col, rows=[row_nr])
+                )
+
+    return self
+
+
+def get_row_to_color_flags(
+    rows: list[int] | int | None, data_table: pl.DataFrame | pd.DataFrame
+) -> list[bool]:
+    if rows is None:
+        rows_to_color = [True] * len(data_table)
+    elif isinstance(rows, int):
+        rows_to_color = [i == rows for i in range(len(data_table))]
+    elif isinstance(rows, list) and all(isinstance(r, int) for r in rows):
+        rows_to_color = [i in rows for i in range(len(data_table))]
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Invalid rows provided ({rows}). Please provide a single row index, a list of row indices, or None."
+        )
+    return rows_to_color
+
+
+def _get_default_norm(data: pl.DataFrame | pd.DataFrame, row_filter: list[bool]) -> Normalize:
+    if isinstance(data, pl.DataFrame):
+        subset = data.filter(row_filter)
+        vmin = subset.min().min_horizontal()[0]
+        vmax = subset.max().max_horizontal()[0]
+    elif isinstance(data, pd.DataFrame):
+        subset = data.loc[row_filter, :]
+        vmin = subset.min().min()
+        vmax = subset.max().max()
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Invalid data type provided for data. Expected either a pandas or polars DataFrame but got: {type(data)}."
+        )
+    norm = Normalize(vmin=vmin, vmax=vmax)
+    return norm
+
+
+def _handle_cmap_arg(cmap, reverse: bool = False) -> Colormap:
+    if cmap is None:  # construct data_color's default palette with matplotlib
+        colormap = ListedColormap(DEFAULT_PALETTE)
+    elif isinstance(cmap, Colormap):
+        colormap = cmap
+    elif isinstance(cmap, list) and all(isinstance(c, str) for c in cmap):
+        colormap = ListedColormap(DEFAULT_PALETTE)
+    elif cmap in mpl_colormaps:
+        colormap = mpl_colormaps[cmap]
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Invalid colormap provided ({cmap}). Please provide a valid matplotlib colormap name, a "
+            f"`matplotlib.colors.Colormap` object, or a list of colors."
+        )
+
+    if reverse:
+        colormap = colormap.reversed()
+    return colormap
diff --git a/great_tables/gt.py b/great_tables/gt.py
index 748ab47e4..a1e06a435 100644
--- a/great_tables/gt.py
+++ b/great_tables/gt.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 # Main gt imports ----
 from great_tables._body import body_reassemble
 from great_tables._boxhead import cols_align, cols_label
-from great_tables._data_color import data_color
+from great_tables._data_color import data_color, data_color_mpl
 from great_tables._export import as_raw_html, save
 from great_tables._formats import (
     fmt,
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ def __init__(
     fmt_image = fmt_image
     fmt_nanoplot = fmt_nanoplot
     data_color = data_color
+    data_color_mpl = data_color_mpl
 
     opt_stylize = opt_stylize
     opt_align_table_header = opt_align_table_header