Determination of materials and techniques involved in the mural paintings of San Miguel Church, Argentina

Abstract

The research conducted on the mural paintings of the dome and aisles of the San Miguel Church, Buenos Aires, Argentina, is herein described in this work. Based on the results attained from the stratigraphic analysis, the technique implemented by the architect and artist Augusto Ferrari was secco. The composition of the mortar in the majority of the samples collected was gypsum (CaSO4 · 2 H2O) and calcite (CaCO3), whereas the preparation layer was mainly characterized by the presence of gypsum and cerussite (PbCO3). In addition, the red pigments were characterized in all cases as hematite (Fe2O3) whereas orange and ochre colors were achieved by mixing chrome yellow (PbCrO4), chrome orange (PbCrO4·PbO), and gypsum and barite (BaSO4). Moreover, all the range of blue samples found in this mural paintings were characterized as lazurite (Na8 [Al6Si6O24] Sn). Finally, the gildings were composed of a superficial layer of gold of approximately 5‐μm thickness, followed by a layer of hematite and chrome yellow. The latter was also employed as a yellow pigment in all of the analyzed works of art. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the use of complementary and microdestructive spectroscopic methodologies is a very useful tool to determine not only the materiality but also the execution technique of the painting in order to assess, in an interdisciplinary approach, the future restoration and preservation strategies.

Recent advances in linear and nonlinear Raman spectroscopy. Part XII

“…They also evaluated the use of their portable Raman instrument under the extreme conditions of Patagonia . In Tascon et al's Determination of materials and techniques involved in the mural paintings of San Miguel Church, Argentina , they concluded that the use of complementary and microdestructive spectroscopic methodologies is a very useful tool to determine not only the materiality but also the execution technique of the painting in order to assess, in an interdisciplinary approach, the future restoration and preservation strategies …”

Espectroscopia Raman e a Ciência do Patrimônio: aspectos gerais e panorama atual na América do Sul

“…Similarmente, pinturas murais também tem atraído o interesse de pesquisadores, especialmente aquelas localizadas em igrejas (ARAYA et al, 2014;TOMASINI et al, 2016;RUA et al, 2017;TASCON et al, 2017), mas murais em outros contextos também foram investigados como os feitos pelos Mochicas do Vale do Jequetepeque (SARDOS et al, 2017), além de murais contemporâneos (AGUAYO et al, 2011;MORETTI et al, 2013).…”

Conservation State of Two Paintings in the Santa Margherita Cliff Cave: Role of the Environment and of the Microbial Community

“…Occasionally, caves could be arti cially modi ed by either building defence walls or decorating them with paintings, depending on the cave's use (Aubert et al 2018). In the case of shrines or churches, there are plenty of sites which contain paintings of high artistic relevance (Metin and Soslu 2018; Tascon et al 2017). From a geological perspective, Sicilian territory is characterized by karst landforms (typically featuring underground quarries), therefore composed of sedimentary layers (i.e., cutters, sinks, and caves), resulting from geomorphic processes due to the chemical solubility of rocks in both ground and surface water.…”