Materials and techniques in pictorial decoration, a technological comparison between east and west

The study investigates painting materials, decorative technologies, and support systems, including plasters and architectural terracottas, through an integrated archaeometric approach applied to selected Roman and Qin contexts associated with sacred, public and high-status environments. The analysed materials derive from monumental and elite contexts, including religious buildings, imperial commissions and luxury residential spaces, in which highly specialised production and decorative technologies are expected. The research focuses on the technologies documented in the Roman world between the Late Republican and Imperial periods and in the Qin imperial context, examining how different societies addressed comparable decorative and structural requirements through the combinations of raw materials, preparation procedures and application techniques. The research is structured around five case studies from Italy and China: the painted plasters from the Temple of Cupra Marittima and the villa-mansio of Vignale; the painted architectural terracottas from the Northern Sanctuary of Cuma; the painted fragments from the Terracotta Army; and the multilayer plasters from the palace structures of Xianyang. The analytical protocol integrates microscopic (DM, PLM, SEM), chemical (XRF, SEM-EDS), mineralogical (XRPD), thermal (TG-DSC) and spectroscopic techniques (FORS, FTIR, Raman). Despite substantial differences in materials and technological traditions, the analysed contexts reveal analogies in the stratigraphic organisation of surfaces, highlighting how different cultural traditions developed distinct yet functionally comparable technological solutions, shaped by local resources and specialised technical knowledge.