ABSTRACT
In the Guatemalan village of Chajul there are colonial houses that in some of its rooms conserved mural paintings of great historical and artistic interest. The study of the materials and artistic techniques of these works through a project of scientific collaboration between the Jagiellonian University of Poland and the Universitat de València (Spain) has allowed identifying a crossroads of traditions and knowledge technicians in them. Most of the coloring materials characterized in the pictorial film are of local origin, and coincide with those that were used by the painters of Maya murals since Late Preclassic times (ca. 300 BC-AD 300), especially in the architectureal paintings from the Maya Lowlands. However, in the preparation and technical treatment we observed differences with respect to the pre-Hispanic past, which are related to the new artistic procedures that came to the New World from the Old World after the sixteenth century. This synthesis of knowledge and traditions is also notable in the limestone preparation bases of the Chajul murals. Optimized techniques in the characterization of organic and mineral components in works of art were used to study the materiality of these paintings, including optical microscopy (LM), Scanning Electron Microscopy-X-Ray microanalysis (SEM-EDX), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The study provides scientific data of interest to interpret in its correct historical-cultural dimension this mural painting. Finally, this study has been completely necessary to elaborate the preventive conservation plan that, after the intervention of these murals, should be put in practice to guarantee the best conservation of these works in its space of origin, a house of colonial era that continues to be inhabited by a Maya family today.
