“Theory that the blue pigment used to draw Seiryuu (the Azure Dragon, deity of the East) utilized lapis lazuli, withdrawn” June 4th
Regarding the vivid blue color used to draw seiryuu, the Cultural Property Research Institute said three years ago that the pigment was from lapis lazuli and it was the only such example in the Japanese archipelago. However, that claim was recently withdrawn. The investigators planned to more closely examine the crystalline structure of the blue pigment on the 7th and 8th (this article was written on the 4th). As seen in Central Asia, lapis lazuli can be ground up and used to paint. Afghanistan is the chief producing center of lapis lazuli.
There is a slightly related thread over at the Samurai Archives Citadel that has some good links and pictures.
Here’s the original text:
高松塚古墳の青龍の顔料、「ラピスラズリ使用」説を撤回
6月4日20時6分配信 読売新聞
奈良県明日香村の高松塚古墳（８世紀初め）の極彩色壁画のうち、「青龍」に使われた鮮やかな青色の顔料について、東京文化財研究所が３年前に発表した「宝石のラピスラズリが使われており、日本では類例がない」とした説を、事実上撤回していることがわかった。
調査方法などに研究者から疑問が相次いだためで、東文研も論拠の薄弱さを認め、最近の専門誌では触れていない。青龍が描かれた側壁は７、８両日に取り外される予定で、文化庁などは、顔料の結晶構造などを詳しく調べる。
ラピスラズリはアフガニスタンが主産地の宝石で、深い青色が特徴。古来、「聖なる石」として装飾品や顔料に珍重されてきた。粉末から作る顔料は、中央アジアや敦煌の壁画などに使用されている。
Ah, more pigments, my specialty. I wrote a short article about the use of lapis lazuli in Japanese art on my blog. But this article refers to use of powdered lapis in the Edo era when foreign trade was well established. It would be an important historical discovery if it was determined that lapis had made its way to Japan from Afghanistan at such an early date.
Comment by Charles — August 3, 2007 @ 10:51 pm
Fascinating article — thanks for sharing that! I’d be interested in reading more on the rationale between both the initial position and the subsequent retraction by the 東京文化財研究所. I hope you don’t mind–I’d like to provide a link to that article at the Samurai Archives Citadel (forum with link under my blogroll). There are some forum members there who majored in Japanese art history, I believe, who may find it interesting.
Comment by nagaeyari — August 3, 2007 @ 11:12 pm
Sure, go ahead and share, I’m surprised that anyone would be interested in such art historical obscurities (well, not TOO surprised, since I went to the trouble to write it up). But I’m sure it is generally well known (to art scholars at least) that nihon-ga are still to this day done with only mineral pigments like ground lapis. That’s how we got started on this “Dutch blue” research in the first place, someone told us that it was Prussian Blue (one of the first artificial chemical dyes) but I didn’t believe it, that’s the wrong shade of blue.
Anyway, my total off-the-cuff reaction to the retraction is that they are afraid to assert that lapis could have come to Japan via a trade route from Afghanistan at that early date, like I said, that would be a significant discovery. It would need compelling forensic evidence to back it up.
Comment by Charles — August 4, 2007 @ 1:29 am