Mythic dyes or mythic colour? New insight into the use of purple dyes on codices

Aceto, Maurizio; Calà, Elisa; Agostino, Angelo; Fenoglio, Gaia; Gulmini, Monica; Idone, Ambra; Porter, Cheryl; Hofmann, Christa; Rabitsch, Sophie; Denoël, Charlotte; Förstel, Christian; Quandt, Abigail

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2019.01.091

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In fact, the spectral features of both the FORS and spectrofluorimetric analyses are compatible with orchil and not with folium, according to the absorption bands at 545/588 nm, respectively, and to the emission band at 625 nm (Figure 6; reference samples were prepared as described in Aceto et al [12]). In addition, this result is consistent with the identification of orchil in nearly all the other purple manuscripts analysed to date [13].…”

Section: Parchmentsupporting

confidence: 87%

Non-Invasive Study on the Sinope Gospels

et al. 2020

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The 6th century Codex Sinopensis or Sinope Gospels (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France) is one of the most precious purple codices that survive from the Late Antique period. Together with the Vienna Genesis (Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) and the Rossano Gospels (Rossano Calabro, Museo Diocesano), it has an unusually rich decorative apparatus with scenes representing biblical episodes. It can be, therefore, considered one of the most important preserved artistic productions of the early medieval era. The manuscript has been subjected to a non-invasive diagnostic campaign to evaluate the quality of the colourants used in its decoration, to understand how the parchment was coloured, and to carry out a comparison with the Vienna Genesis and the Rossano Gospels. The techniques used were UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry with optical fibres (FORS), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), spectrofluorimetry, and optical microscopy. Analyses highlighted the presence of ultramarine blue, which, besides the use of pure gold for the ink and paint, certifies the high value of the manuscript. In addition, this must be seen as one of the earliest examples of its use in paintings. The purple colour of the parchment was identified as orchil, a dye extracted from lichens, similar to the results of analytical investigations carried out on other purple codices, and not the expected Tyrian purple dye.

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Section: Parchmentsupporting

confidence: 87%

Non-Invasive Study on the Sinope Gospels

et al. 2020

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“…Folium and particularly orchil were widely used as alternatives to shellfish purple in the coloring of parchments in which the use of true purple was extremely rare [112,131,132], as discussed previously. Orchella weeds, when properly processed, provide a bright purple, which has been often detected in illuminated manuscripts [108,133].…”

Section: Purple But Not True Purplementioning

confidence: 97%

“…FORS results, however, did not confirm the presence of shellfish purple. Analyses yield the information that the chromatic features of manuscripts are dominated by the presence of inorganic and organic colorants other than shellfish purple [105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112].…”

Section: Manuscriptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple

Karapanagiotis

2019

Sustainability

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Shellfish purple, also known as Tyrian purple and royal purple, has a long history, which has been revealed and documented in recent years through valid physicochemical studies using sophisticated techniques. The aim of the work was to summarize the conclusions of these studies and to describe the results of two unpublished investigations regarding the (i) identification of shellfish purple in a textile (4th century BCE) from ancient Macedonia and (ii) dramatic effect of the dyeing conditions on the composition of the purple dye. Moreover, a critical discussion is included about the discovery of the shellfish pigment and dye based on the available scientific evidence. Previously published reports describing the identification of the shellfish colorant in objects of the cultural heritage were carefully summarized. Shellfish purple was not used only as colorant, but it served other purposes as emphasized in this review. In particular, examples for the use of shellfish purple in medicine, grave goods and fillers and plasters in walls, were described. Examples of materials and methods that were used in the past to produce “fake” purple, imitating the aesthetic result of the valuable royal marine material were summarized. Finally, the solubility of indigoids was discussed using modern approaches of physical chemistry.

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