China's Hunan finds overpainting traces on millennia-old silk painting

CHANGSHA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese experts have discovered for the first time multiple instances of overpainting on the T-shaped painting on silk from the tomb of Lady Xin Zhui, a 2,200-year-old mummified aristocrat, according to a press conference held on Friday.

The Hunan Museum in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, conducted a materials-based analysis of the silk painting using techniques such as spectroscopy and surface topography measurement. The research utilized multimodal image acquisition methods, including multispectral-hyperspectral imaging and large-format X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

The study examined the composition of the materials and ink, analyzed the pigments, ink imaging and distribution. The team identified traces of overpainting and also completed the image data acquisition of the artwork.

The T-shaped silk painting was unearthed from the renowned ancient Chinese tomb Mawangdui, the burial place of Lady Xin Zhui, wife of the chancellor of the Changsha Kingdom during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD).