An-Najah Staff

 The use of pigments in Roman wall paintings is quite limited. Among more than 500 samples of wall painting fragments and raw pigments examined from 14 Roman sites in Switzerland as well as Pompei, only 13 samples have manifested the presence of lead pigments. Cerussite (PbC03), of which the presence in Roman wall painting is questioned, is now identified among the white raw pigments from Pompeii. Red lead (Pb304) has been used in different ways: (a) pure as orange pigment (b) mixed wiyh cinnabar or as undercoat for it: (c) mixed with red ochre: (d) added in small quantity to hematite violet. Moreover the identification of the hydroxypyromorphite (Pb5(PO4)3OH) accompanied with red ochre is explained by a possible use of the pyromorphite (Pb5(PO4)3CI) instead of cerussite for the preparation of the sandyx.