Seville City Hall Chapter Room ceiling decoration

Abstract

The present article describes a chemical and physical study of the colour, chemical composition and mineral phases of the decorative materials in the Seville City Hall Chapter House ceiling. The findings showed that the inner most layer of material, calcite, was covered with white lead, in turn concealed under a layer of gilded bole. The ceiling underwent re-gilding, also over bole, due in all likelihood to wear on the original gold leaf. In the nineteenth century, the entire ceiling with the exception of the inscriptions was whitewashed with calcite and white lead. Silver was employed on King John I’s sword (coffer 27). Gold leaf was used to adorn the royal attributes: crowns, belts, sceptres, swords and rosary beads. The high reliefs were likewise gilded. The pigments identified on the ceiling adornments included azurite, malachite, vermilion and gas black. A lime and ground dolomite mortar was used throughout.

Keywords

• gilding
• pigments
• stone
• mortar
• colour