*2.7. Analytical Workflow*

In order to optimise the workflow, we employed an analytical protocol which had been developed previously [17]. A preliminary inspection of the painted areas under high magnification optical microscopy (up to 80×) was undertaken in order to highlight their micro-texture and to select the most significant spots for instrumental analysis. The chosen analytical techniques were employed sequentially, following the investigation protocol. Firstly, a large number of spots were investigated by FORS. This allowed areas to be identified with similar reflectance spectra, which can be attributed to the presence of the same materials. In several cases, the comparison of the obtained spectra with those collected in the spectral database (see Section 2.6), along with indications from literature [18,19], allowed for the colourants employed to be determined directly.

A second survey was performed with FOMF, which enabled some of the identifications obtained by means of FORS to be confirmed.

XRF spectrometry was then employed to obtain in-depth information on the underlying layers of paint and the selective identification of the colourants through the detection of key elements that can be linked to one specific pigment. XRF is of particular interest in identifying metal pigments and white/black colourants; in addition, this technique can yield information concerning the provenance of raw materials [20]. With only a few exceptions, organic dyes cannot be identified with this technique.

Lastly, Raman spectroscopy was employed to reveal the identity of those colourants that were still unknown and to confirm the presence of the pigments that had been identified by the other—less selective—techniques.

#### **3. Results**

The palette used by the miniaturist is described in the following paragraphs. In addition to the identification of colourants, the discussion will focus on the choice of the colourants in the pictorial scene.

#### *3.1. Black Pigments*

Most of the black areas in the illuminations consist of small details such as floor-tiles (ff. 1r and 49v, Figure 1a,i) or shoes (ff. 28v and 36v, Figure 1d,f), which were painted next to green areas. The spectral features shown by FORS analysis revealed the presence of a carbon-based pigment, but these areas also yielded intense signals from copper and zinc when analysed by XRF. This suggested the presence of a copper green pigment spread under the black one (see later).
