Abstract
Spatially resolved X-ray fluorescence analysis using synchrotron radiation (SR-XRF) at the wavelength shifter beamline, BAM line, at BESSY was used to investigate Renaissance silverpoint drawings as it is extremely sensitive, non-destructive and can be carried out in air using an excitation spot in the hundred micrometer range. This paper deals with first results of the study of silverpoint drawings of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) belonging to the sketchbook that Albrecht Dürer used during a travel to the Netherlands in 1520/21. These results are compared to a PIXE study performed on drawings from the same sketchbook. The minor element composition of the silverpoint used for the drawings in the sketchbook was (10.6 ± 3.5) wt.% of Cu and traces of Zn. Mercury was found in the marks but does not belong to the initial composition of the silverpoint as it is attributed to an alteration phenomenon. One drawing of the sketchbook represents an exception. It consists of silver marks containing an additional minor element, Zn, in the marks and was, therefore, created with another silverpoint, probably at a different time than the other drawings.
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