TY - JOUR A1 - Dariz, P. A1 - Schmid, Thomas T1 - Trace compounds in Early Medieval Egyptian blue carry information on provenance, manufacture, application, and ageing JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Only a few scientific evidences for the use of Egyptian blue in Early Medieval wall paintings in Central and Southern Europe have been reported so far. The monochrome blue fragment discussed here belongs to the second church building of St. Peter above Gratsch (South Tyrol, Northern Italy, fifth/ sixth century A.D.). Beyond cuprorivaite and carbon black (underpainting), 26 accessory minerals down to trace levels were detected by means of Raman microspectroscopy, providing unprecedented insights into the raw materials blend and conversion reactions during preparation, application, and ageing of the pigment. In conjunction with archaeological evidences for the manufacture of Egyptian blue in Cumae and Liternum and the concordant statements of the antique Roman writers Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder, natural impurities of the quartz sand speak for a pigment produced at the northern Phlegrean Fields (Campania, Southern Italy). Chalcocite (and chalcopyrite) suggest the use of a sulphidic copper ore, and water-insoluble salts a mixed-alkaline flux in the form of plant ash. Not fully reacted quartz crystals partly intergrown with cuprorivaite and only minimal traces of silicate glass portend solid-state reactions predominating the chemical reactions during synthesis, while the melting of the raw materials into glass most likely played a negligible role. KW - Egyptian blue KW - Raman microspectroscopy KW - Spectoscopic imaging KW - Cuprorivaite KW - Amorphous carbon PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-537591 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90759-6 VL - 11 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Nature Portfolio AN - OPUS4-53759 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dariz, P. A1 - Schmid, Thomas T1 - Raman focal point on Roman Egyptian blue elucidates disordered cuprorivaite, green glass phase and trace compounds JF - Scientific reports N2 - The discussed comparative analyses of Roman Imperial pigment balls and fragmentary murals unearthed in the ancient cities of Aventicum and Augusta Raurica (Switzerland) by means of Raman microspectroscopy pertain to a predecessor study on trace compounds in Early Medieval Egyptian blue (St. Peter, Gratsch, South Tyrol, Northern Italy). The plethora of newly detected associated minerals of the raw materials surviving the synthesis procedure validate the use of quartz sand matching the composition of sediments transported by the Volturno river into the Gulf of Gaeta (Campania, Southern Italy) with a roasted sulphidic copper ore and a mixed-alkaline plant ash as fluxing agent. Thus, the results corroborate a monopolised pigment production site located in the northern Phlegrean Fields persisting over the first centuries A.D., this in line with statements of the antique Roman writers Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder and recent archaeological evidences. Beyond that, Raman spectra reveal through gradual peak shifts and changes of band width locally divergent process conditions and compositional inhomogeneities provoking crystal lattice disorder in the chromophoric cuprorivaite as well as the formation of a copper-bearing green glass phase, the latter probably in dependency of the concentration of alkali flux, notwithstanding that otherwise solid-state reactions predominate the synthesis. KW - Raman microspectroscopy KW - Egyptian blue KW - Cuprorivaite PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-559028 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19923-w SN - 2045-2322 VL - 12 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London AN - OPUS4-55902 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -