Journal
JOURNAL OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
Volume 23, Issue -, Pages 162-169Publisher
ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.culher.2016.07.008
Keywords
Mural painting; Byzantine style; Middle Ages; SEM-EDX analysis; Lead isotopes; MC-ICP-MS mass spectrometry
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Funding
- Berit Wallenberg Foundation [BWS 2014.0010]
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Sweden has several hundred churches with relatively well-preserved mediaeval mural paintings. A few churches possess murals painted in a Russian-Byzantine style, most of them on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Four Gotland stone churches are included in this investigation as well as painted boards saved from three since-long demolished wooden stave churches. Most of the paintings are dated to the 12th century. In total 116 pigment samples were examined by SEM/EDX, and six lead pigments were also analyzed with a MC-ICP-MS mass spectrometer to determine the isotopic composition. The results show that the pigments used agree well with what has been observed for other Gotland murals, but are somewhat different from those commonly used in mediaeval church murals on the Swedish mainland. With the exception of Masterby Church, the lead isotope measurements indicate a German origin for the lead pigments. It has for a century been argued whether these Byzantine paintings were produced by Russians or domestic painters. A contribution to this discussion is made in the light of the analyzed results and from historic and logical arguments. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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