Raman microspectroscopic analysis of decorative pigments from the Roman villa of El Ruedo (Almedinilla, Spain)

Mateos, Laura D.; Cosano, Daniel; Mora, Manuel; Muñiz, Ignacio Atance; Carmona, Rafael; Jiménez‐Sanchidrián, César; Ruíz, José Rafael

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2015.06.091

Cited by 25 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Moreover, the blue pigments in the richly decorated Macedonian tombs of the Hellenistic period were identified as Egyptian blue [14,15]. The pigment has also been identified in Etruscan [16] and Roman art [1,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], with nearly all of the samples studied by S. Augusti from Pompeii identified as Egyptian blue [25]. Archaeological research has unearthed countless works of art that testify to the use of Egyptian blue, even as far north as in Norway [26], with the mentioned examples demonstrating the wide temporal and geographic use of the material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Egyptian Blue Pellets from the First Century BCE Workshop of Kos (Greece): Microanalytical Investigation by Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy-X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

et al. 2020

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This paper aims to expand our understanding of the processes involved in the production of the artificial pigment Egyptian blue through the scientific examination of pigments found in the first century BCE workshop of the Greek island of Kos. There, 136 Egyptian blue pellets were brought to light, including successfully produced pellets, as well as partially successful and unsuccessful products. This study is based on the examination of eighteen samples obtained from pellets of various textures and tones of blue, including light and dark blue pigments, coarse and fine-grained materials, and one unsuccessful pellet of dark green/grey colour. The samples were examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and micro-Raman spectroscopy. These complementary microanalytical techniques provide localised information about the chemical and mineralogical composition of this multicomponent material, at a single-grain level. The results shed light on the firing procedure and indicate possible sources for raw materials (beach sand, copper alloys), as well as demonstrating the use of a low-alkali starting mixture. Moreover, two different process for the production of light blue pigments were identified: (a) decreased firing time and (b) grinding of the initially produced pellet and mixing with cobalt-containing material.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Egyptian Blue Pellets from the First Century BCE Workshop of Kos (Greece): Microanalytical Investigation by Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy-X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

et al. 2020

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“…In the last period, 2014/2015, we can cite further relevant studies on wall paintings of two Greek Byzantine Churches from Kastoria, northern Greece (Iordanidis et al); pigments in the wall paintings at Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, China (Li et al); a wall painting attributed to Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the St Augustine Church in Siena, Italy (Damiani et al); the pigments in dome wall paintings by Correggio in Parma cathedral (Bersani et al); 17th century mural paintings, Dominican Convent of Nossa Senhora da Saudacao, Montemor, Portugal (Gil et al); medieval Nubia wall paintings from Saras, Old Dongola and Banganarti archaeological sites (Syta et al); wall paintings in Pompeii (Madariaga et al); wall paintings from Qasr El‐Ghuieta Temple, Kharga Oasis, Egypt (Mahmoud); the wall paintings from the Baños de Doña Maria de Padilla in the Alcazar of Seville (Perez‐Rodriguez et al); binder compositions in Pompeian wall paintings from Insula Occidentalis (Gelzo et al); gilded plasterwork in the Hall of the Kings in the Alhambra complex, Granada, Spain (de la Torre‐López et al); wall paintings in the San Francisco Church, Santiago, Chile (Araya et al); the wall paintings in the Churches of Panagia and Theotokos built in the settlements of Patsos and Meronas at Amari Rethymno, Crete (Cheilakou et al); wall painting fragments from Roman villas of the Sabina area, Rome (Paladini et al); the wall paintings from the Hellenistic hypogeum of Apaforte‐Licata, Agrigento, Sicily (Aquilia et al); wall paintings in the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum (Amadori et al); and decorative fragments from the hypocaustum in the Roman villa of El Ruedo, Almedinilla, southern Spain (Mateos et al).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raman spectroscopy of minerals and mineral pigments in archaeometry

Bersani

Lottici

2016

J Raman Spectroscopy

143

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Minerals, as raw structural materials or pigments, play a fundamental role in archaeometry, for the understanding of nature, structure and status of an artefact or object of interest for cultural heritage. A detailed knowledge of the mineral phases is crucial to solve archaeological problems: Raman spectroscopy is a powerful investigation technique and has been applied extensively in the last 30 years on mineral identification and on pigment degradation. Here we report an updated review, covering the last decade, of the applications of Raman techniques to issues in which raw minerals, including mineral pigments, are involved. Particular attention is devoted to cases where the Raman analysis of minerals is deeper than a simple identification of the phases present in an archaeological or artistic object. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…At the excitation with a laser wavelength of 1064 nm, the specific bands of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite appear, possibly from the reaction between carbon dioxide and wet calcium hydroxide, such as: 790 and 1088 cm −1 . Gypsum (CaSO 4 •2H 2 O, with a sulfate band at 1008 cm −1 ) [51] and quartz (SiO 2 ) are also visible through the band at 465 cm −1 [52]. The bands of 866 cm −1 , associated with the mode of carbonate ions weakly bound to cations [53], and that of 740 cm −1 , can be observed and assigned to the symmetric bending mode of CO 3 2− in vaterite, suggesting favorable conditions for this form of metastable calcium carbonate (µ-CaCO 3 ) [54].…”

Section: Ftir Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Analytical Investigation of Roman Frescoes from Rapoltu Mare (Romania)

Ion

Barbu²,

Gonciar

et al. 2022

Coatings

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(1) Background: Due to the precarious situation of many monuments or archeological sites, analytical investigations are necessary to obtain information about the used materials, as well as to identify the most appropriate solutions for their conservation/restoration. This paper addresses the characterization of mural painting fragments collected during the excavation in 2018 in Rapoltu Mare (La vie), Deva. (2) Methods: Specific analytical techniques were used, as follows: X-ray diffractometry (XRD), wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF), optical microscopy (OM), zoom microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), spectroscopic techniques (UV–Vis, FTIR, Raman), porosity and thermal analysis, all of which provide information about the structure, chemical composition, morphology and topography of pigments and their deterioration as well. (3) Results: Up to seven different pigments were identified: Egyptian blue, carbon, calcite, gypsum, hematite, goethite and green earth. Egyptian Blue is identified in all the other color areas, except the white area: in the green zone (as degradation product with beeswax) and in the red zone (in mixture with ochre) too. In addition, carbon and beeswax were highlighted as toner and binder for pigments, respectively. In the presence of the organic beeswax binding environment, the Egyptian blue pigment particles darkened or turned yellow significantly, changing the blue to a greenish color. It is also possible to identify wollastonite (CaSiO3) in the blue pigment, which indicates that the temperature used in the manufacturing of Egyptian blue was higher than 950 °C from thermal analysis. The presence of apatite, hematite and gypsum deposits in the Hunedoara region certifies that these pigments could have been of local origin, as demonstrated by the presence of analytically identified elements (Fe, P, S, Ca). (4) Conclusions: The analytical techniques used for such investigations have highlighted the main pigments used in Roman times for various Roman murals.

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Raman microspectroscopic analysis of decorative pigments from the Roman villa of El Ruedo (Almedinilla, Spain)

Cited by 25 publications

References 36 publications

Egyptian Blue Pellets from the First Century BCE Workshop of Kos (Greece): Microanalytical Investigation by Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy-X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Egyptian Blue Pellets from the First Century BCE Workshop of Kos (Greece): Microanalytical Investigation by Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy-X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy of minerals and mineral pigments in archaeometry

A Multi-Analytical Investigation of Roman Frescoes from Rapoltu Mare (Romania)

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