‘A Lost Chapter of Ancient Art’: Archaeometric Examinations of Panel Paintings from Roman Egypt

Compound Specific Radiocarbon (14C) Dating of Our Colorful Past: from Theory to Practice

“…The explanation remains unresolved since following the initial sampling the objects, they were fully restored hindering further sampling for identification of additional carbon sources. [44] In another example, a combination of beeswax and gum elemi was found to be the source of the age bias in the study of the stratigraphy of a polychrome sculpture. [45] Not only are conservation treatments of concern but very often mixtures between inorganic pigments and synthetic organic lakes occur and even trace amounts may strongly influence the outcome of the results.…”

New insight from MALDI-TOF MS and multivariate data analysis on the botanical origin of polysaccharide-based paint binders in ancient Egypt

“…The use of an Acacia gum was suggested in various works of art: in the paint from stone elements of the temple in Karnak, 8,9 in wall paintings from the tomb of Nefertari from the 19th-Dynasty 10 and from two 18th-Dynasty tombs, 11,12 in different Egyptian objects from the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, 13 in the paint layers of reliefs from the Palace of Apries I (26th-Dynasty), 14 and in the paint layers of two mummy portraits from the J. Paul Getty Museum 15 and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. 15,16 Gum tragacanth (from the genus Astragalus) was possibly identied in a red wash on an 18th Dynasty sandstone sarcophagus, most likely mixed with another polysaccharidebased plant material, 17 and in a white lling material from another sarcophagus from the 21st Dynasty. 18 Gums possibly from the Prunus genus (fruit tree gums), as well as from Acacia species, were suggested as the binding medium of the paint on the Nebamun wall paintings (1350 BCE).…”