Another beauty of analytical chemistry: chemical analysis of inorganic pigments of art and archaeological objects

[EN] This lecture text shows what fascinating tasks analytical chemists face in Art Conservation and Archaeology, and it is hoped that students reading it will realize that passions for science, arts or history are by no means mutually exclusive. This study describes the main analytical techniques used since the eighteenth century, and in particular, the instrumental techniques developed throughout the last century for analyzing pigments and inorganic materials, in general, which are found in cultural artefacts, such as artworks and archaeological remains. The lecture starts with a historical review on the use of analytical methods for the analysis of pigments from archaeological and art objects. Three different periods can be distinguished in the history of the application of the Analytical Chemistry in Archaeometrical and Art Conservation studies: (a) the "Formation'' period (eighteenth century1930), (b) the "Maturing'' period (1930-1970), and (c) the "Expansion'' period (1970-nowadays). A classification of analytical methods specifically established in the fields of Archaeometry and Conservation Science is also provided. After this, some sections are devoted to the description of a number of analytical techniques, which are most commonly used in routine analysis of pigments from cultural heritage. Each instrumental section gives the fundamentals of the instrumental technique, together with relevant analytical data and examples of applications.Financial support is gratefully acknowledged from Spanish ‘‘I+D+I MINECO’’ projects CTQ2011-28079-CO3-01 and CTQ2014-53736-C3-1-P supported by ERDEF funds.Domenech Carbo, MT.; Osete Cortina, L. (2016). 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Weaving tunics and beyond. Rural-Urban interactions in Roman Egypt

Urban settings traditionally played an important role in the history of textile production. Already during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, large concentrations of demand could be found in cities such as Rome and Alexandria. These cities had an important impact on their hinterland and must have been supplied either with raw material, to be able to produce textiles within the city, or with finished textiles from the hinterland. However, the textile industry was not limited to spinning and weaving ; there was also an important finishing industry, often situated in towns, in which fulling and (re) dying played an important role. What role did the hinterland and the large towns or cities play in this context ? And how was the interaction between these different spheres of production organized ?Les milieux urbains ont traditionnellement joué un rôle majeur dans l’histoire de la fabrication des textiles. Déjà aux époques hellénistiques et romaines, il était possible de trouver une haute densité d’usagers dans des villes comme Rome ou Alexandrie. Ces villes avaient une influence énorme sur leur hinterland et celles-ci devaient être approvisionnées en matières brutes, vêtements achevés ou autres formes de textiles. Néanmoins l’industrie textile ne se concentrait pas seulement sur le filage et le tissage. D’autres étapes de la fabrication des textiles, notamment la teinture et le foulage, se situaient souvent dans les villes. Quel était le rôle exact de l’hinterland ? Et quelles étaient les interactions entre ces deux niveaux de production ?Menten-Plesters Ruben. Weaving tunics and beyond. Rural-Urban interactions in Roman Egypt. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 95, fasc. 1, 2017. Antiquité - Ouheid. pp. 109-130

The Sibyls from the church of San Pedro Telmo: a micro-Raman spectroscopic investigation

The series of the Sibyls from the church of San Pedro Telmo is one of the most important groups of paintings of Argentine colonial art. Ten of the paintings were performed in the 18th century, while those corresponding to the Delphic and Tiburtine Sibyls were painted in 1864 during the first restoration of the series in Buenos Aires. There is a controversy regarding the origin of this remarkable group of paintings pointing to an Andean workshop or a Spanish source. In this study, Raman microscopy in combination with scanning electron microscope energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer analysis and HPLC has successfully identified the materials employed in the manufacture of the paintings. The Raman analysis revealed the presence of a mixture of barium sulfate, lead white, and calcite in the preparation layers of the 19th century Sibyls in contrast to the clayish ground layer in the 18th century paintings. Traditional pigments such as vermilion, lead white, orpiment, indigo, ultramarine blue, and Prussian blue were readily identified by Raman microscopy. The presence of a madder lake in one of the 18th century Sibyls strongly suggests their Spanish origin in accordance with historical data. The identification of synthetic ultramarine blue in the Tiburtine painting is the first report of this blue pigment in Argentine colonial art.Fil: Marte, Fernando Daniel. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones sobre el Patrimonio Cultural; ArgentinaFil: Careaga Quiroga, Valeria Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos en Química Orgánica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos en Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Mastrangelo, Noemi Elisa. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones sobre el Patrimonio Cultural; ArgentinaFil: Faria, Dalva L. A. de. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Maier, Marta Silvia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos en Química Orgánica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos en Química Orgánica; Argentin