Multianalytical Studies on the Mural Painting of Yongle Palace in Shanxi Province, China

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Yongle Palace of the Yuan Dynasty is the earliest, largest, and best preserved Taoist temple in China and is famous for its exquisite mural paintings. To date, there are approximately 1000 m 2 of murals encompassed in Yongle Palace which is considered to be a rare masterpiece. Due to the environmental influences and the relocation impacts, the preservation status of the mural is poor, and conservation is urgently needed. However, there is a lack of scientific basis of the materials and techniques used in the mural painting, for which to understand the construction and material characterization of the mural are significant. In this study, the in situ nondestructive analysis was conducted by using p‐XRF and colorimetry to characterize the painting pigment. The fragmented mural samples were then analyzed by applying digital microscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), granulometry, and Raman spectroscopy to identify the structural characteristics and determine the compositions. The results provided important information of the construction and materials used in Yongle Palace mural which could serve directly for the conservation and restoration works and would further enhance the understanding of techniques used in the mural paintings of the Yuan Dynasty.