lazurite, red lead, lead white, malachite, atacamite, vermilion, gold

Ingredients

lazurite, red lead, lead white, malachite, atacamite, vermilion, gold

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Blue ground and pale blue decoration consist of lazurite (p. 1491). Bright orange and orange frames were painted with red lead (p. 1491). Pale green used in opening pages; green in text frames is a mixture of lazurite and malachite (p. 1491). Green verse markers identified specifically as atacamite (p. 1491). Lead white identified by bands at 1052 and 1049 cm-1 in pale green and white areas (p. 1491). Vermilion used for red diacritics (p. 1491). Gold used for borders, opening page grounds, and marginal roundels (p. 1491).

Evidence

"The verse markers were painted in blue (lazurite), orange (red lead) and green (atacamite, basic copper(II) chloride (CuCl2 . 3Cu(OH)2), with characteristic bands at 974, 911, 820, 513, 149, 122 cm-1). (p. 1491) ... The red diacritics are made with vermilion. (p. 1491)"

Remarks

This is the largest manuscript studied, with 373 leaves (p. 1485). Marginal devices marking every fifth verse contain organic reds (possibly carmine or madder), but the RM spectra did not match reference dyes, suggesting a complex mixture or unknown variant (p. 1491). Surah headings written in white paint in riqa' style (p. 1485).