Identification of Theophrastus’ pigments egyptios yanos and psimythion from archaeological excavations. A case study

Following 4th c. B.C. Theophrastus treatise On Stones, regarding preparation of pigments, blue and white ones coming from fresh archaeological excavations in Attica, Greece, a blue made by Kremer factory and a white reproduced following ancient recipe were all submitted to analytical measurements. New results derived from the application of Infrared Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (IRPAS), Scanning Electron X Ray Microprobe Analyser (SEM-EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy identified their mineralogical content. The Theophrastus’ “psimythion” and “kyanos egyptios” are attributed to the lead white (cerussite and hydrocerussite) and the Egyptian blue (cuprorivaite) respectively.