• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.35
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• pp.160-184
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• 2002

The composition analysis of mural pigments at Daeungjeon Hall of Bongjeongsa Temple(Treasure No. 55) and ancient tomb with mural pigments in Goadong(Historic site No. 165) were carried out by XRF and MXRD. The analytical result showed that red pigments were Red Lead($Pb_3O_4$), Cinnabar(HgS) at Daeungjeon Hall of Bongjeongsa Temple and Cinnabar(HgS) in Goadong. The main composition identified in white pigments were Lead Carbonate Hydroxide[$PbCO_3{\cdot}Pb(OH)_2$]. Green pigments were basic copper chloride[Paratacamite $CuCl{\cdot}Cu(OH)_3$], celadonite[$K(Mg,Fe,Al)_2(Si, Al)_4O_{10}(OH)_2$] at Daeungjeon Hall of Bongjeongsa Temple and were basic copper chloride or basic copper carbonate in Goadong. Therefore it proved that mural pigments painted in use the mineral materials.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.9
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• pp.7-31
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• 2010

In this paper, I examine the development of the second stage of Chicano muralism and compare it with the first stage of the Chicano Mural Movement that was born out of the Civil Rights Movement. I then discuss the different aspects of the first stage in relation to the birth of institutionalized public art and question how Chicano murals influenced public art and, conversely, how mainstream public art transformed some of the attitudes and practices of Chicano muralism. Chicano murals initially functioned as a political mouthpiece for Chicano's human rights and as a tool to recover the Chicano people's cultural pride and legacy. However, the murals gradually developed into public art projects supported by the city or federal governments, who regarded them as an economic way to effectively communicate with the community. In this process of institutionalization, muralists became increasingly concerned with aesthetic quality and began to work more systematically. For example, amateur artists or community participants who produced the earlier murals were transformed into mural experts. Chicano essentialism and the politically volatile themes used previously were phased out and the new murals began to incorporate diverse subjects and people, for example, native culture, Blacks, and women. This phenomenon reflected the changing emphasis on multicultural understanding. This kind of institutionalization did not always draw positive results. Inadequate funds were the primary concern over the actual subject and creation of the mural work. Artists reduced the strong political metaphors and aestheticized the mural forms. However, their work was productive as well: thorough research on wall conditions and painting techniques was conducted and new processes and designs were developed. This paper examines the murals created for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Judy Baca's works, and the Balmy Alley Mural Environment project in San Francisco's Mission District. Works by Las Mujeres Muralistas in Mission District, in particular, show case colorful patterns and the Latin American indigenous culture, exploring new interpretations of old icons and design. They challenged the stereotypical depictions of females and presented alternative visual languages that revised the male-centered mural aesthetics and elaborated on the aesthetics of Rasquachismo.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.81-92
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• 2013

In the past, European material and method were applied to conservation of Buddhist mural paintings in Korea. At that time, there were inadequate to selection of materials in consideration of porosity and hydrophilicity, therefore insufficiency to assessing their suitability for materials. The treatment result of mural painting are dissatisfied with consolidation of painting layer using synthetic resin. Therefore, it has experimented on applying fixative for reinforcement of painting layer on Buddhist mural painting in order to establish the effects of conservation. In relationship of binder's viscosity, adhesion and penetrating depth, adhesion increased in high-viscosity specimen whereas it decreased in low-viscosity specimen. While the binder's penetrating depths show similar patterns, the surface's response and combination adjacent to painting layer have differences. Animal glue and methyl cellulose (MC) shows excellent performance in their reaction with soil and painting layer. It is estimated that the fixative penetrates deep into soil to produce a stable fixing effect. The viscosity of polyvinyl acetate resin (PVAc) and acrylic resins are low, and thus penetrates well into soil, but they adhere poorly to soil.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.481-491
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• 2019

The wall paintings of the Afrasiab Palace in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, located at the center of the Silk Road where the culture of the East and the West crossed from ancient times to the Middle Ages, have been unearthed in 1960s and attracted attention from academia. In particular, two characters wearing a Korean ancient hat (Jougwan), who were considered to be ancient Korean, were found in the western wall. The wall depicted the Coronation of King Barfuman of Sogdiana Kingdom in 7th century. It is being used as an important feed for studying the international situation and cultural characteristics at that time. This mural, which is now in the Historical Museum of Afrasiab, contain four different paintings at each side, and has its own cultural characteristics and elements. Nevertheless, there has been no development of storytelling and cultural contents using it. The purpose of this study is to find out how to develop and utilize cultural contents and characters based on the paintings of west wall of Afrasiab palace. To this end, we visited the museum and investigated the mural as well as surveyed many academic materials.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.24
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• pp.117-132
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• 2020

The painting layer of Payathonzu temple mural paintings in the ruins of Bagan Myanmar has been damaged due to various reasons. In this study, the applicability of Neem resin, a traditional Myanmar adhesive, as a fixative on the painting layer was examined. Cow glue and Paraloid B-72 were selected as fixatives in the comparison group, and pseudo-specimens with conditions similar to the original mural paintings were produced to examine the changes before and after applying the fixatives and according to the deterioration experiments. As a result of conducting the experiments and comparing the fixatives, it was found that changes on the surface such as smudge, yellowing and gloss are greater with the application of higher concentration of Neem resin than with other fixatives. However, such changes were relatively small under the condition of 4% concentration. It was also confirmed that chromaticity and glossiness vary greatly between before- and after-application of the fixatives but that such discrepancies tend to decrease at 4% concentration compared to other concentrations. As for fixation strength, it was found that the fixation capacity of Neem resin on the base and painting layers is overall higher than other fixatives as the concentration is increased. Therefore, the applicability of 4% concentration of Neem resin as a fixative on the painting layer was confirmed considering the low surface changes according to environmental factors, low color discrepancy and glossiness, and characteristics of excellent fixation strength. It is believed that the findings of this study could be used as basic data for the preservation of Payathonzu temple mural paintings in the future.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.22
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• pp.41-52
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• 2019

Inner walls of the stone chamber of West Ancient Tomb No. 1 and 2 in Neungsan-ri, Buyeo-gun have been inspected for possible trace of murals. Tomb No.1 has a rough surface finish of the stone wall and no traces of murals was observed in any part of the stone walls except the ceiling part of the main chamber. On the ceiling surface, there is black colored area, which showed same visual characteristics for both the surface and interior upon slight scratch of the surface, suggesting that it may not be a painted layer. In addition, this black material is not artificial stuff like black ink but is confirmed as biotite from X-ray diffraction analysis that is one of the constituents of the stone wall. In case of tomb No. 2, white material, that is confirmed as lime(calcite, CaCO3) by X-ray diffraction analysis, was observed on the wall surface of the east, west and north, suggesting possible existence of murals. The lime layers, however, are located mostly on the entrance of east wall of main chamber and the place of passage whereas they are observed only in lower parts on the other walls. It may have been formed by the inflow of soil and lime from the outside as the form of the lime layer in the east wall corresponds to the traces of soil and lime deposited from the thief pit. Furthermore, the filling material found in the gap between the stone slabs of the four directions and the ceiling was confirmed as clay soil, which is different material from the lime present on the stone wall surface. If the lime layer had been artificially constructed for the purpose of creating murals, it would have been more reasonable to use lime as well in the gap between the stone slabs of the four directions and ceiling. In this regard, we conclude that there are no murals in the Tomb No. 2 in the Neungsan-ri.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.132-149
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• 2011

In ancient period, a variety of inorganic or organic pigments had been used as colorants in various kinds of religious and secular paintings such as tomb paintings and wall and scroll paintings in buddhist temples, and danchung(cosmic patterns) for the surface of wooden buildings. This study discusses the results obtained from an analysis of the pigments on the wall paintings of Yeongsanjeon(Hall of Vulture Peak) in Tongdo temple by a qualitative analysis using a field-XRF. The results can be briefly summarized as follows. Firstly, assuming from the major components examined from F-XRF analysis, raw materials of pigment of each color are: red to be Cinnabar(HgS) or Hematite($Fe_2O_3$); white to be White Lead[$2PbCO_3{\cdot}Pb(OH)_2$] in most cases and Calcite($CaCO_3$) or Chalk($CaCO_3$), Kaolin($Al2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2{\cdot}4H_2O$) in some cases; yellow to be Yellow Ocher[$FeO(OH){\cdot}nH_2O$]; black to be carbon(C); green on the painted surface to be Celadonite[$K(Mg,Fe^{2+})(Fe^{3+},Al)(Si_4O_{10})(OH)_2$] in most cases; dark green on the halo of figures to be Malachite[$CuCO_3{\cdot}Cu(OH)_2$], Copper Green[$2CuO{\cdot}CO_2{\cdot}H_2O$] or Atacamite[$Cu_2Cl(OH)_3$]. Secondly, incarnadine and pink were made by mixing with more than two pigments such as red and white for making various tone of colors. The qualitative analysis of pigments on the wall paintings of Yeongsanjeon, in conclusion, displays that the all pigments for ancient periods are inorganis pigments. However, it has the limitation to identify a definite kinds of mineral for each pigment because it was not possible to collect samples from cultural heritage for conducting a crystalline analysis of XRD.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.148-165
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• 2017

Mural paintings drawn inside ancient tombs are very sensitive to changes in the environment such as temperature and humidity, especially the finish layer of the tomb murals differ in preservability depending on the material properties and humidity conditions. In this study, I examined the mural painting of Songsan-ri Tomb No.6, where the finish layer was made of earth, and identified the physical changes that can occur due to drying, depending on the material properties of the finish layer. I found out through particle size analysis that the finish layer of the mural painting in Songsan-ri Tomb No.6 is about 85.0wt% below silt, about 14.0wt% clay therein, mostly composed of silt and below clay. I also found out through physical property evaluation that surface change rate of samples showed the largest change at 15.5% in reproduced finish layer sample made up of bentonite, followed by 7.8% of reproduced finish layer sample made up of celadon soil, 6.3% of reproduced finish layer sample made up of loess, 6.2% of reproduced finish layer sample composed of white clay and the same order of change in appearance was confirmed in each sample consisted of soil. In addition, it showed the same trend of surface change rate, and the bentonite condition showed the largest change, in the measurement of shrinkage rate and expansion rate. The experiment shows that the finish layer composed of soil is affected by cohesion among particles according to the content of fine parts and the relationship between the agglomeration due to the content of the differentiated part and the stress due to the expansibility depending on the kind of the clay mineral etc. Therefore, it can be concluded that the physical damage occurred in the mural painting finish layer of the Songsan-ri Tomb No.6 is related to the factors such as the material characteristics of the soil and the highly humid environmental change inside the tomb.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.64-78
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• 2023

This article examines the background and meaning of the construction of Josadang Hall in Buseoksa Temple, Yeongju, by Seolsan Cheonhee(1307~1382) in the late 14th century through the characteristics of the hall's mural. Six guardian deities(the Four Heavenly Kings in the center, Indra and Brahma on each side of the kings) are depicted on the southern wall(location of the entrance) of the Josadang, facing the statue of the great monk Uisang(625~702 AD) on the north wall. This mural is the oldest among Korean temple murals and exhibits very unique characteristics. In general, scenes from the scriptures are depicted on the back wall of the central statue. In contrast, the Josadang mural depicts only the guardian deities facing the main statue with no scene description. The appearance of the deities, who seem to protect the main statue of the monk Uisang, and their expressions, as if drawn from relief statues, are not seen in other murals. Nevertheless, it is similar to the stupas of the Seon(Ch. Chan 禪) sect monks established from the late Silla(57 BC~935 AD) through early Goryeo(918~1392 AD), with guardian deities on their surface. The iconography of the deities is a classic form of the late Silla to early Goryeo. The fact that the Josadang was built to commemorate Uisang, who founded the Korean Hwaeom sect(Ch. Huayan sect, 華嚴宗), and that guardians were placed to protect Uisang's statue reveals the concept of worship for the monk who founded the sect. As a result, the reason Cheonhee built the hall can also be understood as an extension of the ideology behind the construction of the stupas of the Seon sect monks. The problem, however, is that Cheonhee is a monk of the Hwaeom sect, and Buseoksa is a representative temple of the Hwaeom sect, not the Seon sect. Therefore, to better understand the background of the hall's construction, this article examined the situation of Goryeo Buddhism in the 14th century as well as the activities of Seolsan Cheonhee. Since Ganhwa Seon(Ch. Kanhua Chan, 看話禪) was dominant in the 14th century, Cheonhee went to study in the Yuan Dynasty(1271~1368 AD) at the age of 58 and was approved by Chinese Ganhwaseon monks before taking the position of Guksa(國師 national monk). However, he was eventually pushed to Buseoksa Temple, where he worked hard to rebuild it. Cheonhee most likely sought to expand the Hwaeom sect, which had been shrinking compared to the Seon sect, by enhancing power with the reconstruction of Buseoksa. The desire that the Hwaeom sect, which was losing its power due to the rise of the Seon sect in the 14th century, attempted to develop it by building Josadang hall, is well revealed by the Josadang murals.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.3
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• pp.43-50
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• 2001

This article is about a joint project carried out by the National Museum of Korea and the Tokyo Cultural Properties Research Institute for the conservation of central Asia Wall painting that has been selected for the exhibition at the new Seoul National Museum of Korea at Yongsan. The investigation of the wall painting revealed very useful information. This includes the condition of the object, and the identification of evident damage, such as cracks, loss of pigment, plus materials and methods employed during the object's creation, as well as previous conservation treatment. The object was mainly made by applying plaster to the body (wall) that consisted of a mixture of soils and rice straws. Then, on the surface of the wall-painting, pigments were used to draw and to colour it. As a part of the investigation, radiocarbon dating was conducted using straw samples taken from the object. The result indicates that the object is probably dated form between the end of the 10th Century and the beginning of the 13th Century. The result of X-ray diffraction also revealed the composition of the pigments used on the surface. These are 1. gypsom [Ca(SO₄)·2H₂O], CaSO₄ and Calcite (CaCO₃) and Calcite (CaCO₃) that were used for the white background. 2. Pb₃O₄ and led Arsenate [Pb(As₂O₆) that were used for the red colouring. 3. Cuprite (Cu₂O), Arsenolite (As₂O₃) and Arsenic Oxide (As₂O₄) that were used for the green colouring.