Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean

Abstract

The arrival of Spaniards in the Caribbean islands introduced to the region the practice of applying pigments onto buildings. The pigments that remain on these buildings may provide data on their historical evolution and essential information for tackling restoration tasks. In this study, a 17th-century mural painting located in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo on the Hispaniola island of the Caribbean is characterised via UV–VIS–NIR, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, XRD and SEM/EDX. The pigments are found in the older Chapel of Our Lady of Candelaria, currently Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy. The chapel was built in the 17th century by black slave brotherhood and extended by Spaniards. During a recent restoration process of the chapel, remains of mural painting appeared, which were covered by several layers of lime. Five colours were identified: ochre, green, red, blue and white. Moreover, it was determined that this mural painting was made before the end of the 18th century, because many of the materials used were no longer used after the industrialisation of painting. However, since both rutile and anatase appear as a white pigment, a restoration may have been carried out in the 20th century, and it has been painted white.

Perspective Analysis of Eustache Le Sueur and His Paintings

“…This exemplifies the complexities and nuances of artistic expression during this era, where symbolism and illusion played pivotal roles in conveying deeper meanings within the artwork (Lazzeri et al, 2015). Additionally, the physical and chemical characterisation of the pigments used in a 17th-century mural painting in the Spanish Caribbean highlights the technical aspects of art production during this period, providing insights into the materials and techniques employed by artists (Sasso et al, 2021).…”

“…Additionally, the dark halo technique, as observed in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters, serves as an empirical solution to mitigate the optical 'simultaneous contrast' effect, demonstrating the intricate understanding of visual perception during this period (Derks et al, 2022). Furthermore, the physical and chemical characterisation of the pigments used in a 17th-century mural painting in the Spanish Caribbean highlights the technical aspects of art production during this period, providing insights into the materials and techniques employed by artists (Sasso et al, 2021). Moreover, fluctuations in painting production in the 17th-century Netherlands offer a perspective on the innovative exuberance and industry dynamics during that period, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of artistic production and its contextual fluctuations (Li, 2019).…”

The colours of Segesta. Searching for the traces of the lost pigments

“…This could be explained taking into account that titanium presence can be associated with the terrigenous component of the sediments used as raw materials for the ochre, confirming that we are looking a pigmented area and providing an indication about the source of pigment even if a quantitative measurement should be necessary [35] . Generally, the characterization of a red pigment is complex [36] because an ochre is a natural earth containing silica and clay [37] . According to Gasanova et al [25] the use of hematite is supported by low intensity of Al and Si lines whose presence would be typical for earths.…”

Scanning macro x‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy maps for matching 17th century paintings color areas to different earth pigments uses and for investigating attribution issues

“…In this regard, works have been done by XRF as well as by other means. 29,31,[33][34][35][36] Recently, the 17th century painting "Still Life with Pike's Head" by Georg Flegel (1566-1638) belonging to the Städel Museum's Old Masters collection and a privately-owned version of the same painting have undergone art historical and art technological studies. 37,38 In the course of the latter, the yellow ochre, red ochre, and umber earth pigments were found analytically in the two paintings, and the earth pigment sienna might have been used in some areas of both artworks (Städel Museum, Internal Report, 2020).…”

“…Hence, the elucidation of differences between iron‐based earth pigments is a subject of great interest and of ongoing research. In this regard, works have been done by XRF as well as by other means 29,31,33–36 …”