Chromatographic, Microscopic, and Spectroscopic Characterization of a Wooden Architectural Painting from the Summer Palace, Beijing, China

Abstract

The wooden construction painting is a type of an ancient decorative art on Chinese ancient structures. Comprehensive reports concerning the composition of these materials are rather limited. Here multiple analytical methods were applied to systematically explore the morphology and materials. Several paintings were characterized using a morphological microscope. Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) detected emerald green and ultramarine in the paint layers. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) indicated that the binding medium in the first layer was composed of blood. Our study helps to comprehensively understand the preparation of the wooden construction paintings in the renowned Summer Palace and provide a scientific basis for its restoration and related archeology work.

Keywords:

• Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry
• scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy
• Summer Palace
• X-ray diffraction
• X-ray fluorescence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.21175104) and the China Scholarship Council (No.201506970013).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.21175104) and the China Scholarship Council (No.201506970013)