A spectroscopic analysis of late 16th century domestic wall paintings in the Saracens Head Inn, Nottinghamshire, UK

Abstract

The mural paintings in the late medieval Saracens Head Inn, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, UK, represent an unusual survival of domestic Tudor artwork in this region. Stylistic dating puts the range of the paintings as c. 1580-1620. The artistic design and archaeological context of the paintings has been studied and paint samples extracted for microscopic, SEM-EDXS, and Raman spectroscopic analysis. In addition, portable Raman analysis was utilized. The paintings, which were only discovered in the 1980s and 1990s, hidden below later plaster, were conserved and a degree of undocumented retouching was applied. The analysis, though restricted by excessive fluorescence from many of the samples, has revealed the broad pigment palette used by the original Tudor artist(s) as well as identifying the modern pigments introduced during conservation work.

Tribute to Derek Long: An instant snapshot of the development of Raman spectroscopy and its application in the fields of instrumentation and methodology, solid‐state materials, cultural heritage, DFT modeling and applications in biology, microbiology, and medicine

“…Stylistic dating puts the range of the paintings as c. 1580–1620. Brooke et al ( A spectroscopic analysis of late 16th century domestic wall paintings in the Saracens Head Inn, Nottinghamshire, U.K ., University of Nottingham, UK) [ 28 ] have analyzed the paint samples extracted for microscopic, SEM‐EDXS, and Raman spectroscopic analysis. In addition, portable Raman analysis was utilized.…”