Publications
Publications in peer-reviewed journals
14. Photoreactivity and stability of flavonoid yellows used in cultural heritage
Samaneh Sharif, Paula Nabais*, Maria João Melo, Fernando Pina, and Maria Conceição Oliveira, Dyes & Pigm. 199:110051, 2022.
13. Yellow lake pigments from weld in art: investigating the Winsor & Newton 19th century archive
Maria Veneno, Paula Nabais*, Vanessa Otero, Adelaide Clemente, M. Conceição Oliveira, and Maria João Melo, Heritage 4:422-36, 2021.
12. In-depth phenolic characterization of iron gall inks by deconstructing representative Iberian recipes
Natércia Teixeira, Paula Nabais, Victor de Freitas, and Maria João Melo, Sci Rep. 11 (8811), 2021.
11. Organic colorants based on lac dye and brazilwood as markers for a chronology and geography of medieval scriptoria: a chemometrics approach
Paula Nabais, Maria João Melo, João A. Lopes, Márcia Vieira, Rita Castro, and Aldo Romani, Herit Sci. 9 (32), 2021.
10. Traditional Yellow Dyes Used in the 21st Century in Central Iran: The Knowledge of Master Dyers Revealed by HPLC-DAD and UHPLC-HRMS
Samaneh Sharif, Paula Nabais, Maria João Melo, and Maria Conceição Oliveira, Molecules 25 (908), 2020.
9. A 1000-year-old mystery solved: the first molecular structure for the medieval blue from Chrozophora tinctoria, also known as folium
Paula Nabais, Joana Oliveira, Fernando Pina, Natércia Teixeira, Victor de Freitas, Natércia F. Brás, Adelaide Clemente, Maria Rangel, André M.S. Silva, and Maria João Melo, Sci Adv. 6(16), 2020.
8. Organic reds in Islamic manuscripts (12th-15th c.) produced in al-Andalus, part 1
Márcia Vieira, Paula Nabais, Eva Mariasole Angelin, Rita Araújo, João Almeida Lopes, Maria João Melo, Lourdes Martín, and Marta Sameño, Dyes & Pigm. 166:451-9, 2019.
7. The conservation of medieval manuscript illuminations: a chemical perspective
Maria João Melo, Paula Nabais, Rita Araújo, and Tatiana Vitorino, Phys Sci Rev., 20180017, 2019.
6. New insights into iron-gall inks through the use of historically accurate reconstructions
Rafael Javier Díaz Hidalgo, Ricardo Córdoba, Paula Nabais, Valéria Silva, Maria João Melo, Fernando Pina, Natércia Teixeira, and Victor de Freitas, Herit Sci. 6(63), 2018.
5. Microspectrofluorimetry and chemometrics for the identification of medieval lake pigments
Paula Nabais, Maria João Melo, João A. Lopes, Tatiana Vitorino, Artur Neves, and Rita Castro, Herit Sci. 6(13), 2018.
4. Silver paints in medieval manuscripts: the first molecular survey into their degradation
Rita Araújo, Paula Nabais, Isabel Pombo Cardoso, Conceição Casanova, Ana Lemos, and Maria João Melo, Herit Sci. 6(8), 2018.
3. The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators’ manual
Maria João Melo, Rita Castro, Tatiana Vitorino, and Paula Nabais, Herit Sci. 6(44), 2018.
2. Organic dyes in illuminated manuscripts: an unique cultural and historic record
Maria João Melo, Paula Nabais, Maria Guimarães, Rita Araújo, Rita Castro, Maria Conceição Oliveira, and Isabella Whitworth, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A., theme issue Raman Spectroscopy at the Arts/Science Interface: Applications in Art and Archaeological Analysis, 374(2082), 2016.
1. Singing with light: an interdisciplinary study on the medieval Ajuda Songbook
Paula Nabais, Maria João Melo, Rita Castro, Luís Sousa, and Graça Videira Lopes, J. Mediev. Iberian Stud. Routledge: Taylor & Francis, theme issue Sci-ArtH: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Medieval Iberian Heritage, 2016, pp. 283-312.
Book chapters
1. Identification of the purple dye on the Vienna Genesis
Maurizio Aceto, Maria João Melo, Eliza Calà, Paula Nabais, and Rita Araújo, in Vienna Genesis: Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Verlage, Austria, 2020, pp. 103-118.
Conference proceedings
4. Tangled threads: Reflection on the historical recipes on folium purple dye
Paula Nabais*, Maria João Melo, and Mark Clarke, Proceedings of the 8th symposium of the ICOM-CC working group on Art Technological Source Research, September 2019, Cologne, Germany.
3. A arte de fazer tintas de escrita medievais no Al-Andalus: o que nos dizem as frontes escritas e o que nos traz a evidência experimental
Ana Luís, Paula Nabais, Rita Araújo, Márcia Vieira, Maria João Melo, Rafael Javier Díaz Hidalgo, Ricardo Córdoba, Natércia Teixeira, and Lourdes Martín, Actas XIII Congreso Internacional de Historia del Papel en la Península Ibérica, 12-14 June 2019, Málaga, Spain, Tomo II, pp. 235-251.
2. Natural yellow dye sources in Persian carpets: a review
Samaneh Sharif, Paula Nabais, and Maria João Melo, 36th Meeting of Dyes in History and Archaeology (DHA 36), 26-28 October 2017, Hampton Court, UK.
1. The production of colour in medieval illuminated manuscripts: the written record and experimental evidence
Maria João Melo, Paula Nabais, and Tatiana Vitorino, Proceedings of the International Meeting Technical Knowledge in Europe: from Written Texts to Archaeological Evidences (13th-16th centuries), Cordoba, Spain, September 2015.
Exhibition catalogues
1. The perfect colours: natural dyes and textile production in medieval times
Paula Nabais, Maria João Melo, and Joana Sequeira, text prepared for the Exhibition Commercial textile production on the Hanse Era, October 6th 2022 – May 22nd 2023, Germany.