Las yeserías del Patio de las Doncellas del Real Alcázar de Sevilla. Avance de resultados de la caracterización de materiales y la técnica

This article presents the initial contributions of the plasterworks polychrome research carried out at Courtyard of the Maidens in the Alcazar of Seville. This spectacular courtyard is located within the King Pedro I Palace (1356 – 1366), which is considered one of the most representative buildings mudejar architecture. This palace has been one of the residences of the Spanish monarchs over the time, thus it is one of the oldest palaces still in use. Consequently many interventions took place in the building, especially on the polychrome decoration. As part of the field-work, samples were collected aiming to identify the different polychrome interventions and the materials used in each of them. Different techniques were used to analyse the samples (optical microscopy, electron microscopy SEM / EDX, chromatographic methods and X-ray diffraction). The results of the study confirmed that successive interventions occurred over the original work. Natural pigments, such as red lead, cinnabar, natural azurite and malachite, were found in the deeper strata (i.e. the most likely original work). Industrial pigments, such as ultramarine blue or emerald green, were identified in the upper layers (i.e. the latest interventions).