In today’s #thread, we are going to talk about the first scientific analyses of the pigments employed on the mural paintings of @pompeii_sites, published by Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1809). Jean-Antoine Chaptal Pigment pots found at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.
Chaptal was lucky enough to receive 7 pigment samples found at @pompeii_sites from Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon’s wife, Empress of France, and Queen of Italy in 1809.

According to him, the pigments were found in a shop corresponding to a pigment trader. The first sample was a greenish clay, which he found similar to the Verona earth used at that time, a mineral composed of iron silicates (celadonite, glauconite).

The second sample was a yellow ochre. Since Chaptal was aware of its conversion into red ochre at high temperatures, he wrongly supposed that the overall eruption temperature had not been very high due to the preservation of the yellow hue.

The third sample was a red ochre. Chaptal proposed that it could have been obtained by calcination of the previous yellow pigment. However, the impurities found in the ochres of @pompeii_sites suggest that they were naturally coloured clays, not calcined.

The fourth sample was white pumice. The remaining three samples required more exhaustive chemical analyses in order to determine their composition since they were complex substances. Pumice stone. https://pumicestore.com/pumice-about.html
The fifth sample was what we describe today as #EgyptianBlue, found in tiny cubes as seen in the second picture. Chaptal reported that the blue hue was more intense in the inner part than in the outside.

If current-day heritage scientists wish to prove that a certain pigment is #EgyptianBlue, they can just rely on spectroscopic techniques to compare the analytical signals of the pigment with those of a standard.

However, Chaptal was not that lucky and had to base all his characterization on the behaviour of the pigments upon acids, bases, or heat exposure.
Chaptal could conclude that the blue pigment was composed of copper oxide, lime and alumina, and partially vitrified. This is in fairly good agreement with what we know today as #EgyptianBlue: CuCaSi4O10. He only forgot the sand.

H.V. Descostils, another French chemist, had already found a vivid and “vitreous” blue on the paintings and hieroglyphs of an Egyptian monument and proved the presence of copper, so it was known that this blue pigment was already in use before Roman times.
The sixth pigment presented a paler blue hue and responded in the same way to the tests performed by Chaptal. He supposed both blue pigments were the same compound, although the sixth had more lime and alumina.
Finally, the seventh pigment given by Empress Joséphine was a pink and soft compound. Thanks to his analyses, he proved it could be a lake pigment on an aluminum substrate, in which madder had been applied as colouring substance.

Again, he was pretty close. Current-day analyses have demonstrated that the substrates of pink lake pigments employed in @pompeii_sites were volcanic aluminosilicates and that madder roots were indeed used to obtain a pink hue.

In case you want to have a look at the original publication of Jean Antoine Chaptal (1809), follow the link below. I love how he describes the samples and the analyses, just as excited as we are today when we get to study the pigments of @pompeii_sites.

babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.…

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More from @cinnabarim

31 Jan
En el #hilo de hoy vamos a hablar de los primeros análisis científicos de los pigmentos de las pinturas murales de @pompeii_sites, llevados a cabo por Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1809).  Jean-Antoine Chaptal Pigmentos del Parque Arqueológico de Pompeya.
En este #hilo @RestauraAraba nos habla también de este y otros científicos del s. XIX que se interesaron por el análisis del patrimonio cultural.

Chaptal recibió en 1809 siete muestras de pigmentos de @pompeii_sites de mano de Joséphine de Beauharnais, esposa de Napoleón, emperatriz de Francia y reina de Italia en ese momento.

Read 17 tweets
8 Nov 20
In today’s @thread we will be zooming in on the mural paintings of @Pompeii_sites, thanks to grazing light pictures and close-up photographs.

🎓📸Ph.D. Thesis Eduardo J. Millán Sañudo (University of Seville). Sacrifice of Iphigenia, House of the Tragic Poet (Regio VI, Villa de P. Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale
Fresco painting was the predominant painting technique at @pompeii_sites. It is based on the application of water-dispersed pigment on wet plaster. However, as we will explain in today’s #thread, some decorations were executed using a different technique.

To begin with, there are several examples of paintings in which an underlayer colour is visible when the surface chips off, while the background stays intact. This indicates that the upper layer is fixed with a binder that is not part of the wall, contrary to fresco painting. Casa dei Vettii, Regio VI, Insula 15, 1. https://idus.us.es/Casa di Fabius Rufus, Regio VII, Insula occ. 16, 22. https:/Casa de Marcus Lucretius Fronto (Regio V, 4.a) https://idus.
Read 15 tweets
8 Nov 20
Hoy os invito a hacer zoom en las pinturas murales de @pompeii_sites a través de fotografías de luz rasante y detalles que nunca pensasteis que podríais ver tan de cerca.

🎓📸 Tesis doctoral de Eduardo J. Millán Sañudo (Universidad de Sevilla). Sacrificio de Ifigenia, Casa del Poeta Trágico (Regio VI, 8Villa de P. Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale (MANN)
Parece probable que la técnica predominante en @pompeii_sites fuera la pintura al fresco, que conlleva el trabajo sobre un mortero de cal húmedo. Sin embargo, como veremos en este #hilo, parte de las decoraciones se realizaron con una técnica diferente.

En numerosos ejemplos se observa una capa de color de fondo que permanece intacta cuando parte de una decoración se desprende. Esto es debido a que esa capa superior está fijada con un aglutinante que no es parte de la pared, al contrario que en la pintura al fresco. A) Casa dei Vettii, Regio VI, Insula 15, 1. https://idus.us.Casa di Fabius Rufus, Regio VII, Insula occ. 16, 22. https:/Casa de Marcus Lucretius Fronto (Regio V, 4.a) https://idus.
Read 15 tweets
1 Nov 20
In today’s #thread we are going to talk about the manufacturing process and use of black pigments in Roman mural paintings, with examples from @pompeii_sites and @MNR_museo. Let’s go! Original Pompeian pigments ...XRF Analysis of a black bac...
Pliny and Vitruvius considered black (called atramentum) an artificial colour, because it required the transformation of raw materials. However, according to Pliny, it could also be found in salt-pits or sulfurous earths, and some painters used to dig up charred human bones. Naturalis Historia, Pliny. ...De Architectura, Vitruvius....
Nonetheless, the most widespread manufacturing process was the calcination of pine resin in constructions that did not allow an escape for the smoke. The most esteemed black, according to Pliny, was prepared from the wood of Pinus mugo or Pinus cembra.

Read 22 tweets
23 Oct 20
You all know that Mount Vesuvius eruption covered and sealed @pompeii_sites, Herculaneum and the surrounding villas in 79 AD. But, what if I could tell you that volcanic ash and pumice could be playing a role in the deterioration of the fascinating mural paintings of the area?
The volcanic eruption froze the daily life of these cities, what allows us to study the archaeological remains of a vibrant area, in contrast with other sites that were purposefully abandoned.

Some interesting findings, other than charred figs and walnuts, are pigment pots, ready to be used to renovate the houses’ decoration, affected by the 62 AD earthquake.

Read 25 tweets
23 Oct 20
Todos sabéis que la erupción del Vesubio en el 79 d.C. cubrió y protegió Pompeya, Herculano y las villas circundantes. ¿Y si os digo que esos materiales volcánicos también juegan un papel en el deterioro de sus pinturas murales?
La erupción detuvo en el tiempo estas ciudades, conservándolas en un momento de plena actividad, a diferencia de otros yacimientos arqueológicos que fueron abandonados y que conocemos ya sin vida en su interior.

Así, en el área vesubiana se ha encontrado restos de alimentos y pigmentos preparados para pintar porque muchas casas estaban siendo renovadas tras el terremoto del 62 d.C., que destruyó parte de la ciudad.

Read 25 tweets

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