Polysaccharide remains in Maya mural paintings: is it an evidence of the use of plant gums as binding medium of pigments and additive in the mortar?

A number of monosaccharides characteristic of plant gums were found in paint layers and preparation layers of samples of Maya mural paintings of 10 archaeological sites located in Campeche and Yucatan regions. This finding opens the question about the deliberate use of these organic polymers as additives for improving workability and mechanical properties in the preparation layer mortar and conferring cohesion to the pigments in the paint layer. The study performed by GC-MS has confirmed the presence, in significant amounts, of a series of monosaccharides, being glucose and mannose between the most abundantly found. Nevertheless, the low amount present in most of the samples hindered the quantification of the relative proportion of monosaccharides necessary for identifying the botanical species of the plant gum. According to the accepted methodology used by Maya artists for preparing painting materials, bark of trees containing plant gums was added to the slaked lime stored in pools and that should be consistent with the notable amounts of glucose, mannose and other monosaccharides forming the skeleton of hemicelluloses and cellulose found in most of the samples. Although organic matter can be present in paint samples exposed to the external environment in Mesoamerican region as result of the microbiological activity, marker compounds characteristic of products resulting from their metabolism were not found in the studied sample

The combined use of cross-section analysis and other stratigraphic recording systems in the cleaning of two panel paintings from the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century

Cross sections are frequently used in the stratigraphic study of pictorial structures. Thanks to cross sections, it is possible to study and record original and non-original strata that may provide important information regarding the artist's technique and later restoration processes. This information helps conservators design different strategies in processes such as cleaning. However, it is often in cleaning where the advantages and limitations of cross sections become obvious. When dealing with a complex structure, cross sections may not be enough to record in a comprehensive and accurate manner all the strata removed during cleaning. In some cases, the conservator may obtain during cleaning a great amount of stratigraphic information that is not visible in the cross sections. Therefore, it may be necessary to resort to other recording systems, such as the stratigraphic unit recording sheet and the stratigraphic diagram, which are frequently used in archaeological stratigraphy. This article demonstrates how cross-section analysis was combined with stratigraphic study during the cleaning of two panel paintings to gain an improved understanding of their complicated layer structure.Barros García, JM.; Reina De La Torre, A.; Pérez Marín, E. (2014). The combined use of cross-section analysis and other stratigraphic recording systems in the cleaning of two panel paintings from the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century. Studies in Conservation. 60(4):245-252. doi:10.1179/2047058414Y.0000000128S24525260

Multi-technical approach for the characterization of polychrome decorative surfaces at Spanish Mission Churches in Nueva Vizcaya (Chihuahua, Mexico)

An interdisciplinary and multi-institutional group of science and art conservation specialists has provided new insight into the painting materials used in the polychrome walls and wooden ceilings in four seventeenth century Spanish colonial churches of Nueva Vizcaya (Chihuahua, Mexico). A multi-analytical study of the decorative surfaces was performed in situ using spectroscopic approaches (XRF, FORS), False Colour Infrared Reflectography - IRFC, as well as micro sampling (ATR-FTIR, LM, GC/MS). A survey of natural resources and study (ATR-FTIR, LM) was carried out to elucidate the natural occurrence of a select number of materials in the surrounding areas of the churches. The present paper presents a multi-analytical study and characterization of green, red-orange and black colour pigments and binders selected from the decorative surfaces. The aim of this study is to highlight relationships between local materials and those from the original polychrome ceilings, in order to understand the material and technological influences that converged in the Spanish colonial architecture of northern Mexico