Multi-technical approach for the characterization of polychrome decorative surfaces at Spanish Mission Churches in Nueva Vizcaya (Chihuahua, Mexico)

An interdisciplinary and multi-institutional group of science and art conservation specialists has provided new insight into the painting materials used in the polychrome walls and wooden ceilings in four seventeenth century Spanish colonial churches of Nueva Vizcaya (Chihuahua, Mexico). A multi-analytical study of the decorative surfaces was performed in situ using spectroscopic approaches (XRF, FORS), False Colour Infrared Reflectography – IRFC, as well as micro sampling for ATR-FTIR, LM and GC/MS laboratory analyses. A survey of natural resources were also studied by ATR-FTIR and LM to elucidate the natural occurrence of a select number of materials found in the surrounding areas of the …