Mediaeval cantorals in the Valladolid Biblioteca: FT-Raman spectroscopic study

Raman spectroscopic studies of three mediaeval cantorals in the Biblioteca of the University of Valladolid has revealed information about the pigments used on these large manuscripts. Although executed in a simple colour palette, very pure cinnabar was used as the major colourant, offsetting the carbon black of the verses and script. A dark blue colour was achieved using a mixture of azurite (basic copper carbonate) and carbon, whereas a light blue colour was azurite alone. A grey colour was achieved using azurite, carbon particles and a calcareous 'limewash'. A yellow pigment, used sparely in the cantorals was ascribed to saffron; unusually, there was no evidence for the presence of the yellow mineral pigments orpiment, realgar and massicot. In several regions of the vellum specimens, evidence for biodeterioration was observed through the signatures of hydrated calcium oxalate. We report for the first time the Raman spectra of pigment in situ on a vellum fragment, which also shows evidence of substrate bands; comparison of black and red pigmented regions of vellum specimens has shown the presence of calcium oxalate in the black pigmented script but not in the red pigment regions, which suggests that the cinnabar in the red-pigmented regions acts as a toxic protectant for the vellum substrate against biological colonisation processes.