The purpose of this study is to reveal that coloring status and the degree of damage and the kinds of pigments used in large buddhist painting (Gwaebultaeng) of Tongdosa temple using a scientific analysis methods. It was observed that the physical damage patterns of the Gwaebultaeng were folding, lifting, fading, and peeling. Lead red, cinnabar and organic pigments were used as red pigments. Malachite and atacamite were used as green pigments, azulite and lazulite were blue pigments, lead white and talc were white pigment. It is estimated that overlapping organic pigments on the lead white were used as the yellow pigment and carbon was the black pigment. Through the analysis of the particle status 432 | 보존과학회지 Vol. 33, No.6, 2017 of the pigments, it was confirmed that different types of raw materials were used for the green pigment, and the crystal form was easily distinguishable. Also, the dark blue color and the light blue color differed from each other depending on the size and shape of the raw material particles. Yellow and purple colors were organic pigments which did not have a graininess. The yellow and purple colors were organic pigments free from the graininess, and the pigments of dark red pigments was found to be mixed with the orange color pigments and carbon particles.
The purpose of the present study is to determine the species of red and green pigments used on paintings of Korean temples and also to compare the two pigments according to the particle characteristics. The component analysis shows that the red pigment consists of cinnabar, hematite, and minium and the green pigment are composed of atacamite, celadonite, and malachite. The result suggests that mixture of various pigments were applied to the painting. When it comes to the particle characteristics, there are various hedral or anhedral shapes such as sharp, long, angular, and platy shapes even in the same cinnabar. In addition, the green pigment also shows a similar pattern with those of the red pigment. Up to now, an identification of minerals has been relied on examination of component and crystal shape. However, it is notable that using form related characteristics can be a better and useful method not only for categorization of pigments which are similar in terms of color and species but also specific index.
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