Natural Science in Archaeology

214 9 Pigments and Colorants
orange in appearance than massicot. As a naturally occurring mineral it is found at
Laurion, Greece, and in other oxidized lead deposits throughout the world.
White Lead/Flake White. White lead, 2PbCO 3 ·Pb(OH) 2 , is one of the oldest
synthetically produced pigments and also one of the most important white pigments
that was used until the nineteenth century. White pigments in the Greek and Roman
worlds frequently were mixtures of hydrocerussite (white lead) and cerussite
(PbCO 3 ). Although cerussite was readily available, hydrocerussite did not occur in
the region. Greek and Roman ladies covered their faces with powdered white lead,
a popular cosmetic of the day (Forbes III 1965). Theophrastus, Pliny, and Vitruvius
all described the preparation of white lead from metallic lead and vinegar.
According to Needham, the same method probably was used in China as early
as 300 BCE (Roy 1993). This has been disputed by Wai, who believes that a very
different method was used. According to an early Song dynasty document, the lead
was heated in a pot and water was added (Wai and Liu 1991). This would then be
massicot, a chemically different compound (PbO) from white lead. There are also
numerous medieval recipes for making white lead.
The manufacture of white lead was one of several advances in painting techniques
reportedly spread to Japan along with Buddhism in the mid-sixth century.
Ancient Japanese texts credit the introduction of white lead to a Buddhist monk
named Kanjo in 692 CE. He was rewarded for his efforts by the Empress Jito
(Yamasaki and Emoto 1979).
White lead is notorious for its tendency to convert to alteration products when
exposed to certain environmental conditions. For example, white lead exposed to
the sulfur of airborne pollutants will turn black. White lead tends to turn into brown
PbO 2 when used on intonaco plaster (Giovannoni et al. 1990).
Minium/Red Lead. Red lead, PbO 2 ·2PbO, is generally made by heating litharge
to a temperature of about 480°C. Chinese texts as early as the fifth century BCE
refer to the manufacture of lead pigments from lead. Some Chinese texts exhibit
confusion between red lead and cinnabar. However, it is clear that these pigments
were being artificially produced. Red lead is found on wall paintings in central
China (fifth to ninth centuries CE) and Buddhist wall paintings in Afghanistan
(sixth century CE). In Japan, red lead is found on wall paintings of the Horyuji
Temple (seventh to eighth centuries CE) (Feller 1986).
Red lead may have been known in Mesopotamia, but the only evidence appears
in ancient cuneiform texts. The Persian alchemist al-Razi (ninth to tenth century
CE) described artificially prepared oxides of lead. Theophrastus did not mention red
lead (Feller 1986). Pliny referred to red lead as “secondarium minium” but seems to
have confused it with cinnabar (N.H. 33.40). His confusion is understandable, since
red lead was often mixed with cinnabar. Dioscorides and Pliny also referred to red
lead as “false sandarach (realgar)”. Vitruvius referred to red lead as “sandarach”
further confusing pigments that are chemically different. Roman women used red
lead as a cosmetic (Forbes III 1965). Red lead is also mentioned in numerous medieval
treatises and was used on manuscripts and textiles in the west and Near East.
Lead Antimonate Yellow/Naples Yellow. Lead antimonate yellow, Pb 3 (SbO 4 ) 2
(also referred to as Naples Yellow), is one of the earliest artificial pigments. It was