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Microcharacterization of a Natural Blue Pigment Used in Wall Paintings During the Romanesque Period in Northern Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2013

Josefina Pérez-Arantegui ,
Carlos Pardos ,
José-Luis Abad  and
José-Ramón García
Josefina Pérez-Arantegui*
Affiliation:
Instituto Universitario de investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Carlos Pardos
Affiliation:
Dep. Química Analítica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
José-Luis Abad
Affiliation:
Antique SL, Art Restoration, 22270 Almudévar (Huesca), Spain
José-Ramón García
Affiliation:
Antique SL, Art Restoration, 22270 Almudévar (Huesca), Spain
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: jparante@unizar.es
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Abstract

In Romanesque wall paintings in Aragon (Spain), the pigment used for creating blue was a very characteristic mineral, aerinite, which came from local ores in the southern Pyrenees. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction, and reflectance spectroscopy were used to make a detailed microcharacterization of this rare blue pigment in order to improve the knowledge of its composition and possible variability, from samples of medieval paintings and some mineral ores. New analytical data on the chemical composition of the blue pigment are reported here, together with the characterization of its microstructure, and the heterogeneity of the natural pigment made by the features of the ore itself. X-ray diffraction pattern and color parameters of the mineral ores are also included. The data obtained by SEM-EDX will assist identification of this pigment by electron microscopy. The natural variability in composition observed in the samples may be used to explain formation of the extracted mineral and to compare several ore sources. Connection of the ore composition with the pigments used in Romanesque wall paintings will help both provenance and attribution studies.

Keywords

electron microscopycharacterizationblue pigmentaerinitewall paintingRomanesque
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 19 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 1645 - 1652
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2013 

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