The Temple of Venus (Pompeii): a study of the pigments and painting techniques

Piovesan, Rebecca; Siddall, Ruth; Mazzoli, Claudio; Nodari, Luca

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.05.021

Cited by 68 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Roman pigments have been found on highly diverse supports including wall paintings, plaster casts, mosaics and mortars, and characterised with various analytical techniques [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] including Raman spectroscopy [15][16][17][18][19][20]. Determining the particular decorative pigments used by a population can be useful to identify the specific materials available at a local, regional or even more extensive level; also, it can help better understand the basic colour preparation and application techniques used in its day.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mateos

Cosano

Mora

et al. 2015

Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectros

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mateos

Cosano

Mora

et al. 2015

Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectros

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“…Most of the samples belonging to group 2 (all sampled from surface layers) showed a binder‐to‐aggregate ratio of 1:1, low aggregate granulometry and low porosity. Therefore, they matched the Piovesan definition of intonachino (Piovesan et al ), or a finish layer characterized by a calcite matrix with some lime lumps, a binder‐to‐aggregate ratio of 1:1 and an aggregate mainly composed of volcanic scoriae and volcanic rocks frequently associated with crystals of sanidine, plagioclase and biotite. Generally, intonachino is rarely used as a finish layer: more frequently, especially in samples taken from walls dating to the second half of the second century BC, it indicates a smoothing layer (Piovesan et al ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Therefore, they matched the Piovesan definition of intonachino (Piovesan et al ), or a finish layer characterized by a calcite matrix with some lime lumps, a binder‐to‐aggregate ratio of 1:1 and an aggregate mainly composed of volcanic scoriae and volcanic rocks frequently associated with crystals of sanidine, plagioclase and biotite. Generally, intonachino is rarely used as a finish layer: more frequently, especially in samples taken from walls dating to the second half of the second century BC, it indicates a smoothing layer (Piovesan et al ). However, some examples of the use of this kind of finish layer are evident in Pompeii (Piovesan et al ), Ostia (Weber et al ) and Herculaneum (Amadori et al ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…All samples belonging to group 1 (sampled from the surface layer of painted plasters) showed low porosity (<20%), with the exception of sample OP24, thus suggesting a very compact layer typical of the finish layer to be painted, a binder‐to‐aggregate ratio of about 1:1 and aggregates characterized by low granulometry. Applying the classification proposed by Piovesan et al (), they can be considered as marmorino . In fact, marmorino plaster is generally described as being characterized by a binder‐to‐aggregate ratio of about 1:1, with a fine aggregate consisting mainly of calcite, with rare clasts of scoriae.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on that, the potential of polarized light microscopy, which permits a complete characterization of the aggregates, the binder texture and the mineral addition from a qualitative point of view, is evident (Elsen ). Moreover, as reported by Piovesan, by exploiting petrographic analysis in terms of aggregate composition, it is also possible to distinguish the kind of intonaco used (Piovesan et al ). However, microscopy techniques are not sufficient to investigate plasters completely.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal and Petrographic Characterization of Herculaneum Wall Plasters

Leone

Vita²,

Magnani

et al. 2016

Archaeometry

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Roman plasters sampled from different houses at the archaeological site of Herculaneum, Italy, (2010–12) were studied by means of petrography, thermal analysis and X‐ray fluorescence. Herculaneum plasters are composed by preparatory layers (arriccio) with a thickness of several centimetres and are based on a calcitic binder and volcanic scoriae as aggregates, covered by a thin final layer characterized by a low granulometry. Most of the sampled plasters can be placed into two groups based on the aggregate composition and classified as marmorino or intonachino. However, a similar aggregate composition did not induce superimposable thermal behaviour, thus suggesting that the samples underwent different ageing/weathering processes, with a consequent change of the ratio among the components.

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The combined use of SEM-EDX, Raman, ATR-FTIR and visible reflectance techniques for the characterisation of Roman wall painting pigments from Monte d’Oro area (Rome): an insight into red, yellow and pink shades

Guglielmi

Andreoli

Comite

et al. 2021

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The aim of this work has been the identification of the painter’s materials employed in the wall decoration of some destroyed buildings dating approximately between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D. This research originates from a previously started joined archaeological and analytical investigation concerning a varied group of findings that resulted from a rescue excavation performed by Soprintendenza Archeologica in the area of Monte d’Oro in Rome. The focus of this study progression has been directed to a numerous selection of monochrome red, pink and yellow-pigmented fragments. The analyses were performed by means of scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) combined with Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies; visible reflectance measurements have also been carried out and the relevance of this technique in such a kind of archaeological studies has been highlighted. Most attention has been given to the assessment of the performances of non-destructive techniques achieved by portable Raman, and visible reflectance instrumentation to test their diagnostic capabilities. In addition to the expected and well-known pigments such as cinnabar, red ochre, hematite for the reds and yellow ochre for the yellows, the study highlighted a diffuse use of mixed colours and in some cases the possible presence of overlapped painted layers and confirmed the presence of gildings. Among the mixtures of pigments, the most singular outcome concerns the pink fragments revealing the possible application of bone white, which seems to be rather uncommon as a pigment in Roman wall decorations.

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The Temple of Venus (Pompeii): a study of the pigments and painting techniques

Cited by 68 publications

References 7 publications

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

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

Thermal and Petrographic Characterization of Herculaneum Wall Plasters

The combined use of SEM-EDX, Raman, ATR-FTIR and visible reflectance techniques for the characterisation of Roman wall painting pigments from Monte d’Oro area (Rome): an insight into red, yellow and pink shades

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