Rare Roman paint 'recipe' uncovered in Cartagena murals makes smart use of costly cinnabar

Roman painters commissioned at the end of the 1st century to decorate the walls of the Domus of Salvius in present-day Cartagena could hardly have imagined that their technical expertise would still attract attention twenty centuries later. Analysis of wall paintings from one of the house's rooms—among the best preserved in ancient Carthago Nova—shows that these craftsmen possessed a sophisticated understanding of the materials used to produce pigments, as well as the effects achieved through combining them. In particular, researchers identified an advanced "recipe" that enabled them to red...