Spectroscopic investigation of yellow majolica glazes

The yellow decorations of some ceramic art objects were examined through different spectroscopic techniques and optical and electronic microscopy. The yellow pigment was identified as lead antimonate, the well-known Naples Yellow. Its use in the course of history seems to be strongly discontinuous, but the diagnostic techniques used to date may not have been adequate. Samples from original masterpieces have been compared with a yellow pigment synthesized in our laboratory, following a Renaissance ancient recipe for Naples Yellow. Concordant results were obtained with Fourier transform IR and UV–visible reflectance spectroscopy, Raman microscopy, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It is demonstrated that the micro-Raman technique is very effective for the unambiguous identification of the pigment and its firing temperature. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.