Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, viale Teresa Michel 11, 15121 Alessandria,
Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2012 Sep;95:235-45. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2012.04.103. Epub 2012 May 7.
Two Byzantine VI century manuscripts known as Vienna Dioskurides and Vienna Genesis, held in the Austrian National Library at Vienna, were analysed with in situ non-invasive techniques. Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry with optic fibres and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry were used to characterise the palette of these early Middle Ages manuscripts. The analytical study was performed to have a better knowledge on the colourants used by ancient miniature painters, a subject known more on the basis of traditional sources (i.e. medieval treatises) than of analytical evidences. Indeed these illuminated manuscripts are, to the authors' knowledge, among the oldest ever being analysed, so that the colourants found in them can be considered among the oldest evidences of their use. The main feature of Vienna Dioskurides and Vienna Genesis palettes is their richness, exemplified by the simultaneous presence of gold and ultramarine blue; in Vienna Dioskurides cinnabar is also present. Information regarding ultramarine blue is surprising, being the analytical evidence of the use of this precious pigment at least three centuries before its use in Western manuscripts, a feature justified by the fact that the Byzantine Empire was the dominant culture in early Middle Ages in the Mediterranean World. Other colourants include azurite and indigo, red lead, orpiment, red and yellow ochres, while a mixture of blue and yellow colourants, known as vergaut, was used to render green hues. Organic colourants were also used, such as madder and Tyrian purple, the latter employed to dye the parchment of Vienna Genesis.
两段分别收藏于奥地利维也纳国家图书馆的拜占庭六世纪手稿，即维也纳 Dioskurides 和维也纳 Genesis，都使用了原位非侵入性技术进行了分析。拉曼光谱、光纤漫反射分光光度法和 X 射线荧光光谱法被用于描绘这些中世纪早期手稿的颜料。进行这项分析研究是为了更好地了解古代微型画家所用的颜料，而这个主题更多是基于传统资料（即中世纪论文），而非分析证据。事实上，就作者所知，这些经过彩饰的手稿是经过分析的最古老的手稿之一，因此，在这些手稿中发现的颜料可以被认为是它们最早使用的证据之一。维也纳 Dioskurides 和维也纳 Genesis 调色板的主要特点是其丰富性，这表现在金和群青蓝同时存在；而在维也纳 Dioskurides 中还发现了朱砂。关于群青蓝的信息令人惊讶，因为这是该珍贵颜料在西方手稿中使用的分析证据，至少早了三个世纪，这一特征可以从拜占庭帝国在中世纪早期主导地中海世界的文化这一事实中得到证明。其他颜料包括蓝铜矿和靛蓝、红铅、雌黄、红和黄赭石，而一种被称为 vergaut 的蓝黄色混合颜料则用于渲染绿色色调。还使用了有机颜料，如茜草和泰尔紫，后者用于给维也纳 Genesis 的羊皮纸染色。
