Tracing Dubrovnik’s Heritage: A Preliminary Database of Natural Dyes in Historical Textiles Analyzed Through Advanced Analytical Techniques

Historical textile fragments from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, preserved in museum, ecclesiastical and private collections in Dubrovnik, Croatia, were examined for the first time using a multi-analytical approach integrated with historical and provenance data to elucidate the region’s chromatic legacy. The results formed the basis of a preliminary Dubrovnik Natural Dye Reference Database, providing a methodological model for the development of comparable natural dye databases in the eastern Adriatic region and beyond. A combination of instrumental techniques, including SEM-EDX, FTIR-ATR, UV-Vis spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), was employed to analyze the dyes, with the resulting data integrated into analytical profiles that constitute individual database entries. Red and purple hues were associated with madder (Rubia tinctorum L.), cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) and Tyrian purple derived from Hexaplex trunculus. Yellow and green samples showed profiles consistent with weld (Reseda luteola L.), while blue colourants were attributed to a plant-derived indigoid dye, most probably woad (Isatis tinctoria L.), and, notably, a blue indigoid dye derived from H. trunculus. The approach distinguished visually similar colors of different chemical and biological origins and revealed complex dye combinations that were not apparent from color alone.