plattnerite

Ingredients

plattnerite, mimetite, galena, red lead, goethite, ultramarine blue, hemimorphite, anglesite, gypsum

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The black paint is a complex mixture mainly composed of plattnerite (PbO2) with mimetite (Pb5(AsO4)3Cl), galena (PbS), and trace amounts of red lead (Pb3O4), goethite, and hemimorphite (p. 222-223). The pigments appear to have been sourced from the Darreh Zanjir mine, located 35 km west of Fahraj, where black plattnerite and yellow mimetite occur naturally (p. 224).

Evidence

"Consistent with m-XRF results, the majority of the black and brownered particles exhibited the Raman bands centred at 426, 515 and 652 cm−1 derived from plattnerite (PbO2), the black lead (IV) oxide"

Remarks

This study suggests that black plattnerite was used intentionally as a pigment rather than being a degradation product of other lead-based pigments, which is a rare finding in Islamic art history (p. 217). The black paint was used as a bordering element along decorative engaged columns (p. 218). Under high laser power during Raman analysis, plattnerite can degrade into massicot (PbO), necessitating low power (0.2 mW) for accurate measurement (p. 220, 223).