Chemistry sheds light on Mamluk lamps
The Department of Islamic Art, Musée du Louvre, will re-open to the public on September 22, 2012. Among the items to be exhibited are four large lamps and a long-necked enameled glass bottle dating from the Mamluk period (1250-1517), which have recently been analyzed on site for the first time. This analysis was made possible by the use of a non-invasive, mobile technique: Raman spectroscopy. Conducted by a team of physical chemists from the Laboratoire de dynamique, interactions et réactivité (CNRS/UPMC) in collaboration with the Department of Islamic Art, Musée du Louvre, this study uncovers the palette of pigments used during the period to achieve the objects' vibrantly colorful decoration. Blue, for example, was obtained using either lapis lazuli or cobalt. The results of this research have been published in The Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, shedding new light on the manufacture of Mamluk enameled glass and providing hitherto unknown information...