Abstract
The investigation of painted layers on murals at Cave 98 from Dunhuang Grottoes was carried out in situ using portable laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the first time. The ablation effect of laser pulses on a mural surface was evaluated under fixed experimental parameters, and the results showed that the influence of laser ablation on ancient murals was acceptable. Then the pigments used in the red, green, and blue layers were indicated with the LIBS spectral data of the corresponding color coupled with a classifiable model of pigments based on the principal component analysis (PCA) method. Finally, the depth profiling of the multilayer structure composed with overlapped painted layers was determined based on the pigment size information of the superficial green layer and the relationship of laser shots and ablation depth, and the thickness of the superficial green layer was analyzed quantitatively, which fits well with the result of the cross-sectional analysis. Therefore, this work can shed light on the great potential for ancient mural applications in LIBS.
Highlights
As an important artistic crystallization of various cultural integrations on the ancient Silk Road, the Mogao Grottoes is the largest, oldest, and the best-preserved Buddhist grottoes with the richest contents in the world today, so it is named “Library on the Wall” because it carries vast historical, cultural, and scientific information
Ancient murals are types of art painted on the wall around caves, which resulted in these immovable murals being not permitted to be taken to the laboratory for analysis, so the portable laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system was regarded as a useful tool to carry out painted layer research of murals in situ and real time in Mogao Caves
Considering that a small amount of material is removed involving the laser ablated on the sample surface in an LIBS measurement, so the LIBS is termed as a microdestructive technique
Summary
As an important artistic crystallization of various cultural integrations on the ancient Silk Road, the Mogao Grottoes is the largest, oldest, and the best-preserved Buddhist grottoes with the richest contents in the world today, so it is named “Library on the Wall” because it carries vast historical, cultural, and scientific information. In some different studies with a similar objective, painting [25, 26], pigments on illuminated manuscripts [27] simulated murals [28], and wall painting fragments [29, 30] were carried out a quick survey utilizing the compact portable LIBS system. Ancient murals are types of art painted on the wall around caves, which resulted in these immovable murals being not permitted to be taken to the laboratory for analysis, so the portable LIBS system was regarded as a useful tool to carry out painted layer research of murals in situ and real time in Mogao Caves. In this work, a portable LIBS was used to analyze the information of mural painted layers on-site in a cave for the first time.
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