Wall paintings through the ages: the medieval period (Italy, twelfth to fifteenth century)

This article summarises the history of cinnabar, from its first uses in burials to modern oils on canvas. After a brief introduction on mercury and contamination issues, the article gets to the heart of the topic. First, mercury-based minerals significant for studying pigments, i.e. cinnabar, metacinnabar, hypercinnabar and calomel, are presented. Structural information and properties precede an overview of the geographic distribution of cinnabar deposits. The following section addresses the multiple uses of cinnabar, divided into funerary use, decorative use, lustre and Chinese lacquer production. The use of cinnabar for writing (ink), medicine and cosmetics is briefly described, and a shortlist of uncommon finds is further provided. The following section approaches inherent but less known topics such as cinnabar procurement, trade, production technology, application and alteration. An entire section is dedicated to calomel before concluding with an overview of the analytical methods for the characterisation and provenance investigation of cinnabar.

Section: Premisementioning

confidence: 99%

Pigments — Mercury-based red (cinnabar-vermilion) and white (calomel) and their degradation products

Gliozzo

2021

“…The second group of contributions is focused on pigments, starting from a philological essay on terminology (Becker 2021). Three archaeological reviews on prehistoric (Domingo Sanz and Chieli 2021), Roman (Salvadori and Sbrolli 2021), and Medieval (Murat 2021) wall paintings clarify the archaeological framework. A series of archaeometric reviews illustrate the state of the art of the studies carried out on Fe-based red, yellow, and brown ochres (Mastrotheodoros et al forthcoming);, Cu-based greens and blues (Švarcová et al 2021);,…”

Section: Premisementioning

confidence: 99%

Mortars and plasters—how to manage mortars and plasters conservation

Caroselli

Ruffolo

Piqué

2021

The use of mortars and plasters has been widespread in many cultures for thousands of years and these materials are found in the vast majority of built cultural heritage. They play a crucial role in the preservation of immovable heritage and must be taken into great consideration when conserving historical buildings. Plasters and mortars have been extensively studied from a chemical and mineralogical point of view. The main causes and mechanisms of damage and deterioration are understood and various methods and materials have been developed for their preservation. Treatment development, testing and evaluation in the laboratory, under controlled conditions, has produced a high level of knowledge. However, there is a divergence between the results of academic-scientific studies and practice in the field. Laboratory studies typically tackle only a few variables at the time and the results cannot always be directly applied to address the complex problems that restorers face in their daily work practice. In addition, in situ conservation-restoration is extremely challenging because many of large number of variables involved cannot be controlled or modified. Following a description of the ideal “value-based” conservation process, this compilation work discusses aspects related to understanding deterioration mechanisms and planning of preventive and remedial interventions in a way that may be useful to update conservators-restorers on the status of scientific research in this field, and to guide conservation-scientists to identify unresolved issues, which require future research efforts.

“…Around the last decades of the second century BC, there was a radical transformation in Roman wall painting technique. The first style's repertoire of three-dimensional architectonical elements, marble slabs and frames modelled in stucco began to rather be painted on the wall in an illusionistic manner by playing with light and shadows, what proves Roman wall painters' impressive execution skills (Mulliez 2014;Beyen 1960). This new system of wall decoration is known as second style or architectural style according to Mau's terminology.…”

Section: Second Style ("Architectural-illusionistic")mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wall paintings through the ages: the roman period—Republic and early Empire

Salvadori

Sbrolli

2021

This paper aims at presenting an overview of Roman wall painting production between late Republic and the early Empire. It will focus on the technique and style of in situ wall paintings from the Vesuvian area (Italy). Frescoes are indeed an integral part of architecture and reflect the patrons’ ambitions and social level as well as the craftsmen’s technical know-how. Since this is a handicraft product, the quality of materials, the craftsmen’s skills and the technique are fundamental to understand the fresco’s value and the message that the patron wished to communicate through the use of elaborate schemes, expensive colours or certain mythological themes.