Maya Blue Used in Wall Paintings in Mexican Colonial Convents of the XVI Century

Luisa Straulino-Mainou,Sergey Sedov,Becket Lailson-Tinoco,Karla Castro-Chong,María Fernanda Urbina-Lemus,Aban Flores-Morán,Pablo Escalante-Gonzalbo,Teresa Pi-Puig

doi:10.3390/coatings11010088

Abstract

Maya blue is a well-known pre-Hispanic pigment, composed of palygorskite or sepiolite and indigo blue, which was used by various Mesoamerican cultures for centuries. There has been limited research about its continued use during the Viceroyalty period; therefore, the sixteenth century is the perfect period through which to study the continuity of pre-Hispanic traditions. The fact that the indigenous people were active participants in the construction and decoration of convents makes their wall paintings a good sampling material. X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were performed in samples of blue found in convents across Puebla, Tlaxcala and Morelos in order to identify whether the numerous hues of blue were achieved with Maya blue or with other pigments. We found no copper (Cu) or cobalt (Co) with the XRF, so several pigments, such as azurite, smalt or verdigris, were discarded. With SEM, we discovered that the micromorphology of certain blues was clearly needle-shaped, suggesting the presence of palygorskite or sepiolite. In addition, we found silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg) and aluminum (Al) by using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in all blue samples, which also suggests the presence of these magnesium-rich clay minerals. With the XRD samples, we verified that the blues were produced with these two clay minerals, thus confirming that several wall paintings were manufactured with Maya blue. These findings confirm that this particular manmade pre-Hispanic pigment, Maya blue, was an important pigment prior to the Viceroyal period.

Highlights

IntroductionThe arrival of Spaniards in the Mesoamerican territory meant an interaction of two cultures that were unknown to each other
Introduction conditions of the Creative CommonsThe arrival of Spaniards in the Mesoamerican territory meant an interaction of two cultures that were unknown to each other
Results showed that Maya blue could have been widespread in XVI century wall painting in convents

Summary

Introduction

The arrival of Spaniards in the Mesoamerican territory meant an interaction of two cultures that were unknown to each other This contact made societies converge in all aspects. Greater or lesser extent within institutions, beliefs, buildings and objects Among these elements, the case of convents stands out since the interaction of cultures took place (more intensely) there, and the creativity in which it was expressed exceeded the limits of what was imagined. The case of convents stands out since the interaction of cultures took place (more intensely) there, and the creativity in which it was expressed exceeded the limits of what was imagined The reasons for this convergence were clear: first, in this place, the integration of the indigenous culture into the western was carried out in a planned way; second, the indigenous people, being the ones who constructed these buildings, portrayed their cosmovision in them. We can see in the murals how the oxide red, the black smoke, the lepidocrocite and the Mayan blue produced an Indigenous–Christian image [1,2,3,4,5,6] (Figure 1)

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