A multi-analytical study of ancient Nubian detached mural paintings

Abstract

A multi-analytical study was carried out on materials, techniques, and state of conservation of a set of detached Nubian mural paintings, originally belonging to the 10th century pictorial cycle of the church of Sonqi Tino, Sudan (70km south of the Egypt–Sudan border). These paintings represent one of the very few examples of Christian Nubian pictorial cycles preserved from the wide defacement experienced by these artifacts with the building up of the Aswan Dam. Non-invasive NMR depth profiling was used to preliminary study the hydrogen rich layers of the detached mural paintings. By this technique, it was possible to perform a virtual coring with a reconstruction of the complex series of layers that characterize the investigated artifacts. Then, micro-sampling and cross-section examination by SEM-EDX, micro-Raman, micro-FTIR, and 27Al and 29Si MAS NMR, allowed us to shed light on materials and technology exploited by the Medieval Nubian painters, with the identification of pigments and composition of the original primer, obtaining also information on layering of materials used by conservators during the detachment of the paintings and their transfer to a new support. The combination of preliminary non-invasive investigation with a set of micro-invasive analytical techniques allowed us to set up a protocol for a satisfactory decoding of the multilayered complex systems that characterize the detached paintings.