Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual Pigments
Sixteenth century wall paintings were analyzed from a church in an advanced state of decay in the Apennines of central Italy, now a remote area but once located along the salt routes from the Po Valley to the Ligurian Sea. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Heritage |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/3/137 |
| _version_ | 1797519088505847808 |
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| author | Laura Rampazzi Cristina Corti Ludovico Geminiani Sandro Recchia |
| author_facet | Laura Rampazzi Cristina Corti Ludovico Geminiani Sandro Recchia |
| author_sort | Laura Rampazzi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sixteenth century wall paintings were analyzed from a church in an advanced state of decay in the Apennines of central Italy, now a remote area but once located along the salt routes from the Po Valley to the Ligurian Sea. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with a microprobe were used to identify the painting materials, as input for possible future restoration. Together with the pigments traditionally used for wall painting, such as ochre, ultramarine blue, bianco di Sangiovanni, cinnabar/vermilion, azurite, some colors were also found to have only been used since the 18th century. This thus suggests that a series of decorative cycles occurred after the church was built, confirmed by the multilayer stratigraphy of the fragments. Some of these colors were also unusual, such as clinochlore, Brunswick green, and ultramarine yellow. The most notable result of the analytical campaign however, was the ubiquitous determination of aragonite, the mineralogical form of calcium carbonate, mainly of biogenic origin. Sources report its use in Roman times as an aggregate in mortars, and in the literature it has only been shown in Roman wall paintings. Its use in 16th century wall paintings is thus surprising. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:38:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e85cf808d4cb4e018cbb6712644e0f8e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-9408 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:38:12Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heritage |
| spelling | doaj.art-e85cf808d4cb4e018cbb6712644e0f8e2023-11-22T13:20:38ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082021-09-01432431244810.3390/heritage4030137Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual PigmentsLaura Rampazzi0Cristina Corti1Ludovico Geminiani2Sandro Recchia3Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e dell’Innovazione per il Territorio e Centro Speciale di Scienze e Simbolica dei Beni Culturali, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, via Valleggio 9, 22100 Como, ItalyDipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, ItalyDipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, ItalyDipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, ItalySixteenth century wall paintings were analyzed from a church in an advanced state of decay in the Apennines of central Italy, now a remote area but once located along the salt routes from the Po Valley to the Ligurian Sea. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with a microprobe were used to identify the painting materials, as input for possible future restoration. Together with the pigments traditionally used for wall painting, such as ochre, ultramarine blue, bianco di Sangiovanni, cinnabar/vermilion, azurite, some colors were also found to have only been used since the 18th century. This thus suggests that a series of decorative cycles occurred after the church was built, confirmed by the multilayer stratigraphy of the fragments. Some of these colors were also unusual, such as clinochlore, Brunswick green, and ultramarine yellow. The most notable result of the analytical campaign however, was the ubiquitous determination of aragonite, the mineralogical form of calcium carbonate, mainly of biogenic origin. Sources report its use in Roman times as an aggregate in mortars, and in the literature it has only been shown in Roman wall paintings. Its use in 16th century wall paintings is thus surprising.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/3/137aragoniteBrunswick greenclinochloreFTIRmortarsSEM-EDX |
| spellingShingle | Laura Rampazzi Cristina Corti Ludovico Geminiani Sandro Recchia Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual Pigments Heritage aragonite Brunswick green clinochlore FTIR mortars SEM-EDX |
| title | Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual Pigments |
| title_full | Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual Pigments |
| title_fullStr | Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual Pigments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual Pigments |
| title_short | Unexpected Findings in 16th Century Wall Paintings: Identification of Aragonite and Unusual Pigments |
| title_sort | unexpected findings in 16th century wall paintings identification of aragonite and unusual pigments |
| topic | aragonite Brunswick green clinochlore FTIR mortars SEM-EDX |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/3/137 |
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