Göreme: MRA-TUR-Gor007
Sample ID
- MRA-TUR-Gor007
Sample Material Type
- Mural painting
Sample Sub-type
- cross section
fragment
micro-fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 0.9
- Width
- 0.6
- Notes
- (the fragment)
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 0.15
- Notes
- (the fragment)
Other info about sample identity
Old ID Ref.: TUR/F/1 b; TUR/F/1-B; TUR/F/1 b (cross section)
Geographic Location
- Country
- Turkey
- Place
- Göreme- Elmali Church
- Detailed location not available
- no
Site/monument
- Turkey (TUR)
Göreme
Elmali Church
Historical note about the site/monument
The Elmali Church dates to around 1050 and is among the smaller cave churches in the Göreme Valley. Its domed ceiling is supported by four pillars, and both the walls and ceilings are ornamented with mural paintings. Restoration was undertaken in the 1990s to stabilize and clean the most recent frescoes, which present images of important church figures and a scene of the Last Supper. In regions where the frescoes have suffered losses, it was revealed that the murals currently visible cover an earlier cycle of paintings. This underlying decorative program seems to consist in geometric ornament painted directly onto the rock walls of the cave.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churches_of_Göreme
http://www.goreme.org/churches/elmali/index.htm
Further reading:
Bowen, R. (1990). The future of the past at Göreme in Turkey. Environmental Geology and Water Sciences, 16(1), 35-41.
Bowen, R. (1987). Geology and the conservation of antique monuments in Turkey. Environmental Geology and Water Sciences, 9(2), 71-84.
Date of sampling
- Unknown
- Yes
Other related archival documents
- There is a photograph of sample TUR/F/1 in the thesis by Angela Russo (2004–2005), preserved in the © ICCROM Archives. In this thesis, the sample is identified as E2 (Fig. 5, p. 21). The thesis also provides an optical microscopy (OM) description of a cross-section and the analyses carried out on p. 43 (Figs. 20–21), p. 49, and p. 82.
Related samples
- MRA-TUR-Gor006 to MRA-TUR-Gor013
Support
- Good (sample can be handled)
Finishing Layers
- Good (sample can be handled)