Organic red colorants in Islamic manuscripts (12th-15th c.) produced in al-Andalus, part 1

Abstract

The conservation of Islamic manuscripts in the Fondo Ka'ti created the opportunity to study the organic red colourants applied in five manuscripts, which include a Koran (1198), a theology treatise (14 th c.), a book of poems from Al-Sarishi (15 th c.), a biography of the Prophet (1468) and manuscript 19 (1485). These dark red colours were characterized using fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS-VIS), microspectrofluorimetry and infrared spectroscopy (microFTIR). Microspectrofluorimetry detected the presence of a lac dye chromophore in all the manuscripts studied and ascribed it to specific medieval recipes for three of the manuscripts. This was based on the very good matches obtained with our database of paint reconstructions that were prepared according to medieval technical sources; the dark reds found in the Koran compared very well with the recipe 'to make red ruby from lukk' from Ibn Bādīs text (11 th c.); the brighter reds applied in the book of poems and in the biography of the Prophet, with recipe 113 from the Paduan manuscript (16 th c.). MicroFTIR completed the characterization of the paint formulation, identifying the proteinaceous nature of the binding media as well as the fillers. It also showed the presence of oxalate compounds, possibly, resulting from the binding media degradation, a mark of the recent and dramatic history of these books. Finally, these red dyes were successfully compared to lac dye colours previously characterized in 12 th -13 th c. Portuguese manuscript illuminations. From Mali to Iberia, tracing the rich diversity of a precious heritage legated by medieval Arabic culture.

The Iridescent Painting Palette of Michelino da Besozzo: First Results of Non-Invasive Diagnostic Analyses

“…Our data, instead, agree with the presence of an animal-derived lake, such as kermes or lac [48]. Although, with FORS analysis, it is not easy to distinguish among the different lakes with an animal origin, it is worth noting the good agreement of our data with the ones reported in the literature for lac [69,70]. Lac, also known as Indian lake, is derived from insects belonging to the Coccoidea superfamily and the Kerriidae family, such as the Kerria lacca.…”

“…The results of the non-invasive analysis confirmed the area of damage to St. Catherine of Alexandria in the Madonna of the Rose Garden, which was already attested in X-ray images and restoration reports, particularly in a portion of the dress and the completely repainted hands of St. Catherine. On the yellow, orange and brown pigments, the use of ochres was highlighted, and on the characterization of the predominantly cinnabar and vermilion reds, an interesting finding emerged that led to the identification of the presence of lac in the brilliant pink dress of St. Catherine in the Mystic Marriage of Siena [69,70].…”

Materials and techniques used for the “Vienna Moamin”: multianalytical investigation of a book about hunting with falcons from the thirteenth century

“…Analogously, we observed contents of calcium soaps in certain colors also in Codex slavicus 8 [ 30 ], which was manufactured in 1368 in the region Krbava (Croatia). Furthermore, Vieira et al [ 53 ] reported the detection of calcium palmitate in a red colorant (lac dye) on parchment in a Koran dated 1198. This raises the question if soap was added by intention as an attempt to improve the applicability of the color.…”

Revealing Artists’ Collaboration in a 14th Century Manuscript by Non-Invasive Analyses

“…It is presumably lac, a resinous secretion from scale insects of the family Coccoidea. The presence of this pigment is rare since, to the best of our knowledge, lac dye has so far only been identified in Islamic [52] and Christian Portuguese [53] manuscripts with micro-invasive and noninvasive techniques. Based on the FORS spectra provided by Vieira et al 2019 [52], we can suppose the presence of lac in 8r, suggested by two absorbance maxima at 530 nm and 568 nm due to the anthraquinone chromophore (Figure 10).…”