Identification of artificial orpiment in the interior decorations of the Japanese tower in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium

Marc Vermeulen · Jana Sanyova · Koen Henri Janssens

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Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis Mineralogy and Gemology Studies Building materials and conservation

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we used a multi-technique approach in order to identify the arsenic sulfide pigment used in the decorative panels of the Japanese tower in Laeken, Belgium. Our attention was drawn to this particular pigment because of its relatively good conservation state, despite its known tendency to fade over time when exposed to light. The pigment was used with different painting techniques, bound with oil and urushi in the lacquers and with an aqueous binder in the mat relief panels. In the latter case it is always applied as an underlayer mixed with ultramarine blue. This quite unusual pigment mixture also shows a good state of preservation. In this study, the orpiment used for the Japanese tower has been identified as an amorphous arsenic sulfide glass (AsxSx) with the aid of light microscopy, PLM, SEM-EDX and Raman microscopy. The pigment features different degrees of As4S4 monomer units in its structure, also known as realgar-like nano-phases. This most likely indicates different synthesis processes as the formation of these As4S4 monomers is dependent of the quenching temperature (Tq) to which the artificial pigment is exposed during the preparation phase.

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References

1995Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Volume 2 1981A short review 2013Pigment Compendium: Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments 2004The Occurrence and Alteration of Realgar on Ancient Egyptian Papyri 1972Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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