• 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.45 no.3
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• pp.212-223
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• 2012

Pigments used paintings, ornaments, weapons and various objects have been recognised as important elements to ascertain the history, manufacturing technique and cultural migration. Since the understanding of composition of pigments by analysis began in 1963, its technique and methodology has much advanced in recent years; recent study used the portable X-ray Fluorescence as non-destructive analysis has been practiced in particular. However the study on pigments necessitates overall and systematic research because it is difficult to understand periodical and regional use of pigments. by fractional studies. Therefore this research investigates the coloring materials and painting techniques of the scroll painting depicting preaching scene of Sakyamuni Buddha in Daeungjeon Hall, a main hall of Bulguk temple, through scientific analysis and comparison of various pigments which had been applied to the buddhist paintings of Joseon Dynasty. Consequently, it is confirmed that the scroll painting used pigments of white lead[$2PbCO_3{\cdot}Pb(OH)_2$] for ground layer and used mixture of different pigments such as cinnabar (HgS) minium($Pb_3O_4$) malachite($2CuO{\cdot}CO_2{\cdot}H_2O$) hematite($Fe_2O_3$) gold(Ag) for presenting various colors on the painting layer. It has been also believed that mineral pigments were applied to the scroll painting, yet it is difficult to confirm whether it is natural or synthetic pigments because the crystal structures of pigments were not analyzed. The results of this study, however, provide useful reference data for the understanding of the components of pigments and manufacturing techniques of buddhist scroll paintings, in particular, of Joseon Dynasty.