Pigment analysis of a wallpaper from the early 19th century: <i>Les Monuments de Paris</i>

Abstract

Abstract In this work the analysis of a wallpaper from 1812 that was found in a palace in the Basque Country (Spain) is presented. The wallpaper represents a beautiful view of Paris and it is considered one of the most important wallpapers ever manufactured. The determination of the pigments present in the work was achieved using a Raman microprobe spectrometer, resulting in a completely non‐destructive analysis. All the colour shades observed in the wallpaper were manufactured with the pigments red, iron oxide yellow, iron oxide Prussian blue, Scheele's green, minium (Pb 3 O 4 ), CaCO 3 , lead white, carbon black, vermilion (HgS), raw sienna and burnt sienna. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.