A portable XRD/XRF system and complementary laboratory techniques were employed to improve the knowledge of the procedures used to create Roman and Arabic wall paintings. Integrated physico-chemical investigations were conducted on fragments of artworks collected from the archaeological excavation of the Patio de Banderas in the Reales Alcazares' Palace of Seville (Spain), and a comparative study on the pigments from both historical periods was performed. As a result, pigments such as vermilion, red ochre, yellow ochre, green earth, Egyptian blue, carbon and phosphor-based black pigments were detected in Roman samples; however, in the Arabic fragments, only haematite was observed. In addition, the size and shape of the particles of the wall paintings were studied with an XRD 2-dimensional detector and SEM-EDX. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

This work was supported by project BIA 2009-12618, EU-ARTECH (contract number RII3-CT-2004-506171), MEC/FULLBRIGHT 2007 and JAE Doc 088. The authors gratefully acknowledge C2RMF staff (especially Dr. Jacques Castaing), Miguel Angel Tabales from the RealesAlcazares of Seville, Cristina Gallardo from the Materials Science Institute of Seville, Almudena Muñoz (architect) for their assistance and the useful comments from the reviewers. Samples were provided by Miguel Angel Tabales.

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