Using Raman spectroscopy, London chemist Robin Clark and his collaborators performed an analysis of the pigments used for the miniatures that illustrate various examples of the Gutenberg Bible.
Raman spectroscopy
He Raman effect It is due to the incidence of a photon hitting a molecule and the consequent interaction with the electron cloud of its bonds, exciting the molecule to a virtual state.
Thanks to this we know what the colors of the Bible are made of:
- Reds: probably cinnabar (mercury sulfide) or hematite (iron oxide).
- Blues: azurite, lapis lazuli or indigo.
- Oranges: minio or realgar.
- Greens: malachite (basic copper carbonate) or verdigris (basic copper acetate).
- Yellow: basic lead carbonate or a lead stannate.
- Ochres: goethite (a basic iron oxide).
- Black: charcoal.
- Whites: calcite.
As it explains Santiago Alvarez in Of women, men and molecules: "A splendid palette that wonderfully resists the passing of the centuries."
The Gutenberg Bible is an edition of the Vulgate, printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, in the 15th century.
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The news
All the colors of the Gutenberg Bible
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.