Identification of Green and Red Pigments Used at Mural Painting of Zandieh in Shiraz by Instrumental Methods

The applied pigments in Zandieh period mural painting (Iran, 18th century) have been less studied technologically. This paper has examined two pigments, red and green, in mural paintings of the Zandieh buildings; Karim khan palace, Divankhaneh mansion and Haft Tann mansion, by XRF, XRD, FT-IR and PLM methods. By identifying the elements and compositions used in these pigments using XRF, XRD methods, as well as comparing the FT-IR spectra with the IRUG database and the PLM images of pigments and matching them with the corresponding Atlas Book, The results showed that the used pigments are Vermilion red and Malachite green. So, based on the historical and artistic pigments background knowledge, related to before and after Zandieh period and the gained results, Iranian people used limited pigments, as the painting style of Zandieh era continues before, especially Safavid era. In Zandieh era, pigments are similar to those of Safavid and Qajar era also continued.