Methodologies for the Characterization and Identification of Natural Atacamite as a Pigment in Andean Colonial Painting

DE HARO, ANDREA; CÓRDOVA, MILAGROS; RUA LANDA, CARLOS; HUCK-IRIART, CRISTIÁN; SIRACUSANO, GABRIELA; MAIER, MARTA S.; TOMASINI, EUGENIA

Heritage

MDPI

Lugar: Basilea; Año: 2023 vol. 6 p. 5116 - 5129

2571-9408

Painting materials used in Spanish American Colonial art comprised pigments and bindersfrom European origin as well as those that were already known in pre-Hispanic times. In recent years,we have identified for the first time the mineral atacamite, a basic copper chloride (Cu2Cl(OH)3), inAndean Colonial art pieces (Viceroyalty of Peru, 16th–18th centuries). This work proposes a methodology based on a multitechnical approach to identify and establish the origin (natural or synthetic)of the atacamite pigment in Andean cultural heritage objects. Optical microscopy (OM), scanningelectron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), portable X-ray fluorescencespectroscopy (pXRF), attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), micro-Ramanspectroscopy, and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) were applied to analyse green pigments fromthe altarpiece of the Church of Ancoraimes, atacamite mineral samples from Chile, and atacamiteobtained as a secondary product from traditional recipes used to produce verdigris, a copper acetate.Viride salsum by Teófilo Presbítero (SXII) and the Spanish translation by Andrés de Laguna (1566)of “De Materia Médica” from Dioscorides are both texts that include recipes involving the use ofmetallic copper as a starting material. These studies will contribute to the history of Spanish AmericanColonial art and to the knowledge on technological capacities and skills in the Andean region duringthis period.Keywords: atacamite; antiquity recipes; Raman and IR spectroscopy; WAXS; polychrome sculpture;Andean Colonial art