Combined spectroscopic analysis for identification of mural paintings materials

In the present paper, an analytical characterization of mural painting samples coming from a 14th century Romanian Monastery has been carried. Investigations were performed through non-destructive spectroscopic techniques: X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) using a handheld energy-dispersive XRF analyzer and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) in Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) geometry. Results obtained via XRF, corroborated with FTIR data, permitted a complete material characterization in terms of elemental composition and molecular structure. A series of mineral pigments were identified - green earth, azurite, cinnabar, lead white, zinc white, ochre, emerald green; as well as the presence in some of the analyzed areas of organic binders such as vegetable wax or linseed oil. Previous restoration interventions were also evidenced as identification of one pigment respect to another, or via the presence of barium sulfate that we assume as coming from a filler, barium sulfate being often used in the chemical formulation of modern painting materials.