Examination of paint sections with the microscope shows that, with the exception of cinnabar, all the other pigments are either laying over the burnished surface of the yellow plaster, or over another layer of paint.
The cinnabar, however, not only covers the surface but was clearly seen to lie just below it as well, presumably the result of secondary polishing. The thickness of the cinnabar layer tends to vary between 10 and 20 micrometres, but, in places the secondary burnishing has forced it to penetrate below the surface of the plaster by as much as 50 micrometres.
Burnished Cinnabar Layers
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