XRF and UV-Vis-NIR analyses of medieval wall paintings of al-Qarawiyyin Mosque (Morocco)

Imane Fikri (1) , Mohamed El Amraoui (2) , Mustapha Haddad (2) , Ahmed Saleh Ettahiri (3) , Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet (4) , Christophe Falguères (5) , Matthieu Lebon (5) , Roland Nespoulet (5) , Saadia Ait Lyazidi (2) , Lahcen Bejjit (2)

1 LASMAR - Laboratoire de Spectrométrie des Matériaux et Archéomatériaux (LASMAR), URAC 11
2 LASMAR - Faculté des Sciences
3 INSAP - Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine
4 MONARIS - De la Molécule aux Nanos-objets : Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies
5 HNHP - Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique

Medieval wall painting fragments, taken at the medieval Mosque of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, have been investigated by means of X-ray fluorescence and UV-Vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopies. The analyses permitted to determine the palette of pigments used by craftsmen of the time. Hematite or red ochre were used to obtain red brown colours, calcite for white, copper-based pigments for blue and blue-grey shades while a mixture of cinnabar, lead-based pigments and hematite was adopted to make red-orange colours. Furthermore, the analysis of mortars (external layer and plaster) on these wall painting samples revealed that they are composed mainly by calcite and sometimes by additional compounds such as quartz and gypsum.

Domaines: Chimie analytique; Archéologie et Préhistoire

Imane Fikri, Mohamed El Amraoui, Mustapha Haddad, Ahmed Saleh Ettahiri, Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet, et al.. XRF and UV-Vis-NIR analyses of medieval wall paintings of al-Qarawiyyin Mosque (Morocco). IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2018, 353, pp.012020. ⟨10.1088/1757-899X/353/1/012020⟩. ⟨hal-01797342⟩