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Maya ArtA Qualitative Analysis of Pigment Mixers used by the Maya |
The Maya, Indians of Mesoamerica, were a very sophisticated people who lived in the what is now Mexico, Guatemala and the Yucatan Peninsula before the Spanish conquered them during the sixteenth century. The ancient civilization of the Maya left many artifacts behind which show their interesting lifestyle. A significant trade of the Maya included art. The most amazing achievements of these Maya artists include architectural embellishments such as sculptures, ceramics, textiles, codices and murals. The wall paintings in Mesoamerica are hard to study due to their age, fragmentation and scarcity. The most famous
murals can be found in Bonampak, Chiapas and reveal a great deal about Maya life. The murals were done in a fresco technique. The paintings were painted on a lime plaster coat as base. Pigments were then painted directly into the wet plaster. Primarily, colors were obtained from natural minerals which were mixed together in cactus juice, water or other natural liquids. Colors ranged from browns, reds, oranges, greens, blues, turquoises, purples, yellows, black and white. Variation of pigments was achieved through dilution rather than the mixing of pigments. Darker hues were obtained by coating layers of the pigment on top of each other
(Turner 635; Gunther 234; Pollock 96; Bernal 8)
To test the quality of mixers (water and cactus juice) under the elements of weather such as sun, rain and acid precipitation.
I decided to use water and cactus juice mixed with the pigments of yellow ochre and natural red earths. These two pigments are pigments which have been identified fro
m Maya mural paintings on the walls in Bonampak. I mixed Plaster of Paris and poured it into six weigh boats. One sample was painted with cactus juice mixed with yellow ochre, one mixed with cactus juice and natural red earth, one mixed with water and yellow ochre, and one mixed with water and natural red earth. Two of the samples served as controls through which I could compare the pieces after I was finished testing them. I obtained cactus juice by buying a cactus plant at Wal-Mart, removing the sticklers by cutting each one off, cutting up the cactus, blending it, and finally, straining the juice from the pulp. I painted each sample while the plaster was still wet because the wet plaster served as the binder instead of me adding one to the pigment. Once the plaster was dry, I broke up the four samples into three pieces each.
After preparing each sample, it was time to test them. I decided to "weather" each sample in order to determine if the Ancient Maya recipe would hold up to the elements. The first test was rain. To recreate some sort of rain or dampness, I decided to place one of each kind of pigment and mixer (4 different samples) into a jar of water. The samples soaked in the water for four days. The second test was sun damage. To recreate the effects of sun within a short period of time, I placed all four samples inside a box with a strong UV Germicide lamp for five
days. The last element I tested was the effect of acid rain on my pigments. In order to make some kind of parallel to acid rain, I obtained a crucible full of sulfur. I put water in a beaker on a hot plate. Once the water started to boil and the steam started to rise, I lit the sulfur which caused it to give off a brownish smoke. The crucible of sulfur was above the boiling water on a ring stand. Each sample was placed directly above the sulfur. There the sample was able to get a strong blast of the recreated acid rain.
I placed multi-range indicator paper above each sample to make sure that there was a sufficient amount of acid rain hitting it. The multi-range indicator paper turned a dark red indicating that the acidity level was about 2.0. Each piece of sample separately was placed in the steam of sulfuric acid rain for two trials of about 8 minutes each.
The pigments that I mixed with cactus juice seemed to form a richer, thicker and an overall prettier coloring than did the pigments that I mixed with water. I dropped about fifty drops of water or cactus juice into each pigment. Each sample contained about two grams of pigment. I made one weigh boat with the two pigment mixed with cactus juice and the other one mixed with water to serve as my control.
| Effects of the Elements on Pigments Mixed with Water and Cactus Juice | Water | Sun | Acid Rain |
| Cactus Juice-Natural Red Earth | The cactus juice made the pigment crumble and fall off the plaster. The cactus did not seem to bind to the pigment very well. | No noticeable differences. | The SO2 oxidized something present in the cactus juice making a portion of the sample turn a grayish color. The acid rain also made some pieces of pigment come loose and fall off. |
| Cactus Juice-Yellow Ochre | The cactus juice made the pigment crumble and fall off the plaster. The cactus did not seem to bind to the pigment very well. | No noticeable differences. | The SO2 oxidized something present in the cactus juice making a portion of the sample turn a grayish color. The acid rain also made some pieces of pigment come loose and fall off. |
| Water-Natural Red Earth | The water seemed to bind to the plaster very well. The pigment did not fade. Some of the top layers of the pigment seem to have washed away. | Not a whole lot of noticeable differences. There is some slight fading from the control. | The SO2 did do some damage making the pigment discolor and peel off. |
| Water-Yellow Ochre | The water seemed to bind to the plaster very well. The pigment did not fade. Some of the top layers of the pigment seem to have washed away | Not a whole lot of noticeable differences. There is some slight fading from the control. | The SO2 did not have as dramatic an effect as on the latter. It only loosened the pigment causing it to flake off in some areas. |
I started this project thinking that there would be major results in the work that I did. As I came to find out, science has a way of humbling you. Although some of my tests were not very conclusive or consistent, I came to the realization that this is the way that experiments in science tend to work. The area of study that I chose was very limited and there was hardly any information anywhere with which I could start or compare my work. As far as the results go, I think that the cactus juice is the richer and prettier choice for a pigment, but the water seems to be the best bet for durability against the elements of nature. This is a surprising report because anyone would assume that the water would be the weaker substance. The organic qualities in the cactus juice are more subject to deterioration than the water. Both pigments seem to be equally strong.
The second thing that I learned from this project is amazement for the Maya people. I already knew that they were a sophisticated people, but the hard work it must have taken them to paint the incredible murals amazes me.
Originally I wanted to be able to test several colors of pigments and eventually paint a picture with the best pigments and mixers that I had. To my dismay, my research revealed that only a few of Maya pigments have been characterized as to what they actually are. Only two of these were available for me to test. As far as a painting goes, it would have been hard enough for me to paint on paper, but on plaster - impossible!
Bernal, Igancio. Mexican Wall Paintings of the Maya and Aztec Periods . United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; New York, 1963. p.8
Gunther, Erna. Encyclopedia of World Art : vol 1. McGraw Publishing Co.; London, England, 1959. p.234.
Jones, David. Edited by Jane Turner. The Dictionary of Art . MacMillan Publishers Limited; New York, 1996. p.635.
Pollock, H.E.D., Ralph L. Roys, T. Proskouriakoff, A. Ledyard Smith. Mayapan Yucatan Mexico. Carnegie Institution; Washington, D.C., 1962. p.96.
Jessica Lin Copeland, 1998.