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Thermal, mineralogical and spectroscopic study of plasters from three post-Byzantine churches from Kastoria (northern Greece)

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Abstract

Several plaster samples were collected from the wall paintings of post-Byzantine monuments from Kastoria town, northern Greece. They were analysed mainly by simultaneous thermal analysis (TG-DTG/DTA) and X-ray diffraction and supplementary by electron microscope (ESEM-EDX) and Raman spectroscopy. Whitish and dark plaster layers were evident in most cases. Calcite, micas, and quartz were the dominant minerals, while dolomite, gypsum, and feldspar were detected as minor phases in most of the samples. Hydromagnesite and chlinochlore were also determined in a few samples. The utilisation of the results for chronological purposes (i.e. for assignment of different painting periods) was also suggested and the presence of dolomite and hydromagnesite could be characteristic for the provenance of the raw material. Gypsum was regarded mainly as a weathering product due to sulfation process, and secondly as a binding material of the plaster. The thermoanalytical results are in good agreement with the mineralogical data. The white plasters are categorized as hydraulic lime mortars, while the dark ones as natural pozzolanic mortars. Calcite and gypsum correlates well with their respective mass losses at certain temperature ranges and their Raman spectra are clearly detected. ESEM-EDX revealed fine calcareous components with aluminolisilicate aggregates and the application of the fresco technique either as a multi-layer or a single-layer plaster. The deterioration caused by salts (gypsum, halite, and nitratine) and micro-organisms was also determined. The detrimental effect of the salt crystallization and dissolution was also confirmed using the so-called Peltier-stage experiment.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support of project CGL2009-09247 of the Spanish Plan Nacional I+D+i and the SYNTHESYS Project ES-TAF-258 of the European Community, giving access to the research infrastructures of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN), Madrid, Spain. The technicians Rafael Gonzales-Martin, Laura Tormo, and Manuel Castillejo Magarin of the MNCN are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geotechnology and Environmental Engineering, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Western Macedonia, Kila, 50100, Kozani, Greece

    Andreas Iordanidis

  2. Museo Nacional Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, C/José Gutierrez Abascal 2, Madrid, 28006, Spain

    Javier Garcia-Guinea

  3. 16th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Mitropoleos 25, 52100, Kastoria, Greece

    Aggeliki Strati, Amalia Gkimourtzina & Androniki Papoulidou

Authors
  1. Andreas Iordanidis
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  2. Javier Garcia-Guinea
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  3. Aggeliki Strati
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  4. Amalia Gkimourtzina
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  5. Androniki Papoulidou
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Correspondence to Andreas Iordanidis.

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Iordanidis, A., Garcia-Guinea, J., Strati, A. et al. Thermal, mineralogical and spectroscopic study of plasters from three post-Byzantine churches from Kastoria (northern Greece). J Therm Anal Calorim 103, 577–586 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-010-1055-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-010-1055-7

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