In situ non-invasive characterization of the composition of Pompeian pigments preserved in their original bowls

Marcaida, Iker; Maguregui, Maite; Morillas, Héctor; Prieto‐Taboada, Nagore; Vallejuelo, Silvia Fdez‐Ortiz de; Veneranda, Marco; Madariaga, Juan Manuel; Martellone, Alberta; Nigris, Bruno De; Osanna, Massimo

doi:10.1016/j.microc.2018.03.028

Cited by 34 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The obtained results are supported by several studies carried out on the frescoes of other Campania archaeological sites, which confirm the use of calcite as the most widespread white pigment [32] along with other carbonates [33,34]. Carbonates are widely available in Campania territory; they have always represented an important georesource not only as white pigment but also for the production of lime-based mortars [35].…”

Section: Pictorial Layersupporting

confidence: 76%

The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study

Alberghina¹,

Germinario

Bartolozzi

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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The Tomb of the Diver has been subject for many decades of fierce debate among archaeologists and classicists. Since its discovery in 1968, some scholars have considered it a unique example of the lost tradition of Greek painting, others have emphasized Etruscan or Italic parallels. More recently, a possible local production has been suggested. With the aim of trying to solve the archaeological question, an archaeometric comparison among this well-known artwork and several frescoed tombs coming from Hellenistic and Lucan necropolis was carried out. The multi-analytical study was focused on the identification of peculiar features of executive techniques and raw materials since the first period of the archaeological site. The analytical investigation has been preliminary based on a non-destructive approach, performed in-situ by portable equipment including imaging diagnostics and compositional spectroscopic techniques for identifying pigments and the conservation state of original painted surface; subsequently, a further deepening by using destructive techniques was performed in-lab for the mortar-based supports characterization. Archaeometric study suggested that technological choices slightly changed in a time span of about two centuries, highlighting important markers that allow clustering the contemporary artistic productions.

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Section: Pictorial Layersupporting

confidence: 76%

The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study

Alberghina¹,

Germinario

Bartolozzi

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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“…The use of hematite in Ancient Roman period is well known and has been widely identified in previous works. Moreover, its use in Pompeii has been clearly proven in the literature [1,4,5,[37][38][39][40]. Therefore, Raman results suggest that these reddish colored tesserae were obtained by using hematite red pigment layer applied over a calcite-based tessera.…”

Section: Red and Orange Tesseraementioning

confidence: 87%

“…Raman measurements of the red and orange colored tesserae offered the typical spectrum of hematite as shown in Fig. 2 (Fe 2 O 3 ; 227, 291, 411 and 609 cm −1 bands [1,5]) and calcite (CaCO 3 ; 155, 282, 712 and 1086 cm −1 bands [5]).…”

Section: Red and Orange Tesseraementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nowadays many of the recovered artworks and objects are stored in the Naples National Archaeological Museum (MANN) for their correct preservation. In the literature, there are works dealing with the analysis of pigments and wall paintings conserved in this museum [1][2][3][4][5][6], but there is a lack of works about mosaics in comparison with other archaeological records.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In situ non-invasive multianalytical methodology to characterize mosaic tesserae from the House of Gilded Cupids, Pompeii

et al. 2019

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Mosaics, one of the most important decorative artworks in the Roman culture, were usually elaborated with a set of tesserae joined with lime or others binders to form geometric or figurative decorations. The identification of both substrate and colored compounds of the tesserae is a challenge for chemists and archaeologists. In this work, two mosaics present in the House of Gilded Cupids from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii were analyzed in situ by non destructive techniques. Raman and Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform (DRIFT) spectroscopies were used for the molecular and mineralogical characterization, and hand-held energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (HH-EDXRF) spectrometry and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for the elemental analysis. LIBS in-depth analysis was performed to obtain insights about the thickness of the pictorial layer determining that the thickness of red and orange pictorial layers was higher than 140 μm. The results showed that white tesserae were mainly composed by calcite, while local black colored volcanic rocks were used to manufacture black tesserae. Red and orange tesserae were composed by a calcite-based matrix with a hematite pictorial layer applied over it. Orange color was obtained by diluting hematite in the calcite matrix. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the XRF data was performed to observe differences and/or similarities between the analyzed mosaics; the samples projection of the PCA showed clear groupings.

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“…As known, the study and characterization of pigments or ligand is a very interesting tool for cultural heritage field operators. The different materials used by artists have a particular chronology and their studies can increase the knowledge about a particular culture or civilization [5]. Moreover, the alteration of pigments in wall paintings can be caused by environmental factors according to their peculiar physical-chemical properties and the environmental conditions in which the artworks are conserved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Invasive Investigation of Pigments of Wall Painting in S. Maria Delle Palate di Tusa (Messina, Italy)

et al. 2019

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The characterization of materials used in the archaeological field needs an experimental approach in order to avoid the destruction or perturbation of artworks. In order to afford this purpose, a multi-analytical spectroscopic approach is regularly used. We combined non-invasive analysis by using handheld spectroscopic instrumentations (mainly XRF and Raman spectrometers) in order to characterize the wall painting preserved in the church of S. Maria delle Palate at Halaesa Arconidea archeological site (Tusa, Messina, Italy). The aim of the work is the characterization of the nature of pigments used for the realization of the wall painting. The wall painting, probably representing St. Francis in the act of receiving the stigmata, has been subject to cleaning and restoration. Thanks to use of in situ measurement, we have identified hematite and goethite for the red and yellow respectively, and lazurite for the blue. In addition, some relevant information about the black pigment, the technique used for the realization and the conservation state were also obtained. The results obtained during the diagnostic campaign have been a support for the work of restorers. For the first time, the wall painting has been studied, increasing the knowledge of Halaesa Arconidea archaeological site.

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In situ non-invasive characterization of the composition of Pompeian pigments preserved in their original bowls

Cited by 34 publications

References 37 publications

The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study

The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study

In situ non-invasive multianalytical methodology to characterize mosaic tesserae from the House of Gilded Cupids, Pompeii

Non-Invasive Investigation of Pigments of Wall Painting in S. Maria Delle Palate di Tusa (Messina, Italy)

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