Virtuous colours for Mary. Identification of lapis lazuli, smalt and cochineal in the Andean colonial image of Our Lady of Copacabana (Bolivia)

EUGENIA TOMASINI; FERNANDO MARTE; VALERIA CAREAGA; CARLOS RUA LANDA; GABRIELA SIRACUSANO; MARTA MAIER

PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES

ROYAL SOC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2016 vol. 374

1364-503X

The imageof Our Lady of Copacabana, a gilded polychrome sculpture carved in maguey wood in1583, is one of the most important devotions in the Americas. In former research, we have identified the use of gypsum, Armenian bole, cerussite, andatacamite in its polychromy. In this study, a red sample taken from theVirgin´s tunic and a blue sample extracted from the cloak have been analyzed with the aim to identify both pigments and offer insights into the painting technique. Analysis by micro-Raman spectroscopy complemented with scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy and high performance liquidchromatography allowed the identification of carmine lake in the red sample. Analysis by micro-Raman spectroscopy of the surface of the blue sample and its cross-section showed the presence of smalt -the blue-glass pigment- over a cerussite layer, bathed by a very thin ultramarine layer -from a probable native origin-, following a pictorial tradition that would last even until the 18thcentury. This is the first time that lapis lazuli has been scientifically identified in a Spanish American Colonial painted layer.