Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean
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-cent...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Materials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/22/6866 |
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| author | Virginia Flores-Sasso Gloria Pérez Letzai Ruiz-Valero Sagrario Martínez-Ramírez Ana Guerrero Esteban Prieto-Vicioso |
| author_facet | Virginia Flores-Sasso Gloria Pérez Letzai Ruiz-Valero Sagrario Martínez-Ramírez Ana Guerrero Esteban Prieto-Vicioso |
| author_sort | Virginia Flores-Sasso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:20:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c6b08e63f842478e932ca1ec7c1704f9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:20:04Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6b08e63f842478e932ca1ec7c1704f92023-11-23T00:10:01ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442021-11-011422686610.3390/ma14226866Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish CaribbeanVirginia Flores-Sasso0Gloria Pérez1Letzai Ruiz-Valero2Sagrario Martínez-Ramírez3Ana Guerrero4Esteban Prieto-Vicioso5School of Architecture and Design, Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Art, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), 2748 Santo Domingi, Dominican RepublicInstituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc-CSIC), 28033 Madrid, SpainSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), 2748 Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicInstituto Estructura de la Materia (IEM-CSIC), 28006 Madrid, SpainInstituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc-CSIC), 28033 Madrid, SpainDepartamento de Inestigación, Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), 1423 Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicThe 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.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/22/6866CaribbeanCathedral of Santo Domingo17th centuryUV–VIS–NIRRaman spectroscopyXRD |
| spellingShingle | Virginia Flores-Sasso Gloria Pérez Letzai Ruiz-Valero Sagrario Martínez-Ramírez Ana Guerrero Esteban Prieto-Vicioso Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean Materials Caribbean Cathedral of Santo Domingo 17th century UV–VIS–NIR Raman spectroscopy XRD |
| title | Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean |
| title_full | Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean |
| title_fullStr | Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean |
| title_short | Physical and Chemical Characterisation of the Pigments of a 17th-Century Mural Painting in the Spanish Caribbean |
| title_sort | physical and chemical characterisation of the pigments of a 17th century mural painting in the spanish caribbean |
| topic | Caribbean Cathedral of Santo Domingo 17th century UV–VIS–NIR Raman spectroscopy XRD |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/22/6866 |
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