Pigments and colours: An inside look at the painted decoration of the Macedonian funerary monuments

Abstract

The funerary monuments located in the area of ancient Macedonia (Northern Greece), namely the monumental Macedonian tombs, as well as the decorated chamber and cist tombs form a remarkable source of evidence about late Classical and Hellenistic painting. They preserve simple or more elaborate compositions executed with the employment of techniques developed at the end of the 5th and during the 4th centuries BCE.In the framework of the NARNIA Project, an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the painted decoration of these tombs was applied combining archaeological research and archaeometric techniques of material study and characterisation. Different analytical techniques have been used in order to determine the techniques and materials employed in the wall paintings in several funerary structures. Specifically, the surface and stratigraphy of the painting were examined with optical microscopy, polarised light microscopy (PLM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the chemical composition of the inorganic materials was determined through the application of micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μ-XRF), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore an investigation of the use of Egyptian blue in the decoration of selected monuments has been conducted through the in situ application of the non-invasive technique which combines visible induced luminescence (VIL) infrared imaging.In the course of this study, the information obtained through the analysis and the review of the literature has revealed the pigments employed in the painted decoration of eighteen funeral monuments. The mainly inorganic colouring materials vary from natural, such as hematite and goethite, calcite and carbon black, to the synthetic Egyptian blue. The coloured arsenal employed by the ancient painters is further enriched by other minerals, such as the red cinnabar and realgar, as well as an arsenic based yellow pigment. Green earth was also used, despite the availability of copper based green minerals. Lastly, the presence of Egyptian blue in the monuments has provided invaluable information regarding the spatial distribution of the pigment and allowed a further comprehension of the decorative motifs.