Identification of pigments in wall paintings from the Zand era in the Karim Khani Castle of Shiraz

Shirvani, Maryam

doi:10.66224/kcr.8.3.1

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Hefazat va Maremat

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Volume 8, Issue 3 (11-2025) KCR 2025, 8(3): 1-15 | Back to browse issues page

‎ 10.66224/kcr.8.3.1

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Shirvani M. Identification of pigments in wall paintings from the Zand era in the Karim Khani Castle of Shiraz. KCR 2025; 8 (3) :1-15
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/kcr/article-1-394-en.html

Identification of pigments in wall paintings from the Zand era in the Karim Khani Castle of Shiraz

Maryam Shirvani ^*

Assistant professor, Department of Restoration of historical buildings, Faculty of Architecture and Restoration, Shiraz University of Arts, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract: (13 Views)

The Karim Khani Castle is a monument from the Zand era in Shiraz. In this building, a wall painting is one of the decorations, which unfortunately was hidden under a layer of plaster during the Qajar era, so many studies have not been conducted to identify pigments from the Zand era. The aim of the study is to understand the structure of pigments in the Zand period wall paintings in the Karim Khani Castle. The question raised is what kind of materials are included in the composition of these coloring materials. For investigation, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, and RAMAN instrumental methods were used. The findings indicate that the red pigment compositions included lead oxide (syringe) and possibly iron oxide (late), the blue pigment included ultramarine blue (lapis lazuli), and the green pigment included malachite (mountain green), which were applied on gypsum substrates and an oil-based compound was used as a binder. The pigments have a mineral structure and are durable, and despite the introduction of European oil paints in Iran, these color compounds have not been used in mural painting.

Keywords: Mural painting, pigment, Karim Khan Castle, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman, scanning electron microscopy.

Type of Study: Research, Original, Regular | Subject: Conservation and restoration of historical-cultural architectural objects and decorations.
Received: 2025/10/5 | Accepted: 2026/01/20 | Published: 2026/03/11

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