Pigment characterization of important golden age panel paintings of the 17th century

The efficiency of micro-Raman spectroscopy in the analysis of complicated mixtures in modern paints: Munch's and Kupka's paintings under study

Yule Catto to part company with Holliday?

Applications of Raman spectroscopy in art and archaeology

The objective of this study is to investigate the addition of natural pigments extracted from flowers and leaves in food products. The following three non-thermally treated food products were used for the experimental study: nougat, cream cheese and butter. Flowers of Viola odorata, Viola tricolor, Syringa vulgaris, Cucurbita maxima, Ranunculus bulbosus, leaves of Taraxacum officinale, Beta vulgaris and petals of Rosa sp. were used to obtain red, green, blue and yellow pigments. Powdered pigments were added to three products marked N (nougat), C (cream cheese), and B (butter), at different concentrations: 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% per 100 g of product. Chlorophyll (Chl) content in green leaves and total monomeric anthocyanin (TMA) content in flowers were determined. The pH, color and textural quality of nougat, cream cheese and butter were obtained. The highest amount of chlorophyll (0.587 mg/g) was found in dandelion leaves, while the highest total monomeric anthocyanin (TMA) content (5.978 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside /g fresh weight) was determined in Rosa petals. The pH of all nougat samples increased with the addition of pigments, while the pH of butter samples increased when blue and red pigments (1 and 1.5%) were added and decreased when yellow and green pigments were incorporated in butter samples. The lightness decreased with increasing pigment concentration for all samples. The addition of color pigments to the butter samples decreased the hardness of the samples. The nougat samples hardness decreased with increasing concentration of yellow, red and blue pigments, while addition of yellow and green pigments decreased the hardness of cheese cream samples.

Applications of Raman spectroscopy in art and archaeology

The aim of this research is to synthesize nanoparticles of black pigment of Magnetite (Fe3O4), red pigment of hematite (α-Fe2O3), and yellow pigment of ghoetite (α-FeOOH) from the iron sand. The black pigment of Fe3O4 and the yellow pigment α-FeOOH nanoparticles were synthesized by coprecipitation method with variation of pH. Whereas, the red pigment Fe2O3 was sythesized by sintering Fe3O4 nanoparticles at temperature between 400 °C and 700 7°C for 1 hour. All the pigments has been characterized using X-ray diffraction and SEM. The XRD results shown that the particle size of the black pigmen Fe3O4, red pigment Fe3O4 and yellow pigment α-FeOOH are around 12, 32, and 30 nm repectively. The particle size of Fe2O3 nanoparticles increase by increasing sintering temperature from 32 nm at 400 °C to 39 nm at 700 °C. For yellow pigment of α-FeOOH, the particle size increase by increasing pH from 30,54 nm at pH 4 to 48,60 nm at pH 7. The SEM results shown that the morphologies of black, yellow and red pigments are ...

This paper presents the outcomes of a restoration project started from 2009 and finalized in 2011 at the Pīr-i Hamza Sabzpūsh tomb of Abarqū, central Iran. The project comprised of analytical studies and restoration works on the architectural decorations consisting of wall paintings and polychrome stuccoworks. Micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman) and micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) micro-analysis were used to compare the chemical and mineralogical composition of the pigments used in the wall paintings and the stuccoworks of the mihrab . The results showed that atacamite, huntite and ultramarine were green, white and blue pigments used on both wall paintings and the stuccoworks of the mihrab . Furthermore, while red lead was used as red pigment on the mihrab , the red pigment of the wall paintings was identified to be red hematite. Apart from the difference between the red pigments used on the mihrab and the wall paintings, the different trace elements associated with other paints established different sources of supplying pigments used in the decorations. It is also shown that red lead was partially blackened likely due to the action of air pollutants. Moreover, an omitted part of an inscription of the mihrab was discovered during restoration works that contributed to re-date the stuccoworks to the second half of the 12th century. Finally, rejecting the current assumptions, which attribute the wall paintings to the 14 th century, it was proved that the wall paintings were the first decorations of the tomb created prior to the second half of the 12 th century. The current work contains also a corrigendum to our previous study published on the decorations of the tomb.

Technical and analytical investigations were carried out on an overhead mask of woman cartonnage from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (catalogue 33279), which dated back to the Greco-Roman Period. Various non-invasive techniques were used in this study such as: AutoCAD program, multispectral imaging with Ultraviolet and Infrared Rays, optical microscope, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The structure of the cartonnage was unique and consisted of three distinctive layers, from the bottom to the top; a double layer from linen, a calcite-based plaster layer, and finally a polychrome paint layer. The study of the paint layer revealed the presence of blue, red, white, yellow, orange, brown and black pigments. Yellow color was identified as orpiment (As2S3) and yellow ochre (goethite α-FeO.OH + clay minerals) and blue as Egyptian blue (CaCuSi4O10). Two red shades were also detected of which the lighter is red lead (Pb3O4) and the darker is a mixture hematite (α-Fe2O3), red lead (Pb₃O₄) and calcite (CaCO3). Orange was identified as a mixture of orpiment (As2S3) and red lead (Pb3O4), white as white lead (PbCO3)2•Pb(OH)2,and black as magnetite (Fe3O4). The brown pigment, made up of red hematite, red lead, and black manganese, was detected for the first time in the pigment palette of ancient Egyptian cartonnage. The binding medium in linen layer was identified as Arabic gum. The study showed that cartonnage dated back to the Graeco-Roman Period because of the appearance of red lead, orpiment, and Egyptian blue. Moreover, the presence of lead in the components of Egyptian blue is considered evidence that ovens contain lead resulting in changing the manufacturing techniques of Egyptian blue.

A multi-analytical study of a wall painting in the Satyr domus in Córdoba, Spain.

Early Islamic pigments used at the Masjid-i Jame of Fahraj, Iran: a possible use of black plattnerite

Cement pastes in tertiary colours: A digital approach for colouration of cement-based materials

Micro‐Raman spectroscopy and optical microscopy under visible and ultraviolet light were applied to characterize the pigments, state of conservation, and painting techniques used in the 17th century panel painting ‘Servilius Appius’, attributed to Isaac van den Blocke. This Golden Age work of art is located at the Gdańsk History Museum.Briefly, individual layers of six samples from different parts of the aforementioned painting were analyzed. A rich palette of white, yellow, red, blue, and black pigments was identified using micro‐Raman spectroscopy. Optical microscopy was also employed to observe and analyze these layers. The obtained results were compared with the art history knowledge of the painting. Consequently, these studies enabled precise characterization of the type of lead tin yellow, the admixture of pigments used in the painting layers, and the type of ground layers, as well as the determination of the pictorial technique used in the process of creating this work of art. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Yellow, red and blue pigments from ancient Egyptian palace painted walls

The development of solid‐state chemistry at the end of the 19th century offered a variety of routes to colour a glass matrix. Eight enamelled glass objects made by Philippe‐Joseph Brocard and two representative objects made by Emile Gallé have been analysed using a mobile Raman instrument at the Musée des arts décoratifs (Paris) in order to compare their colouration technology. White, blue, yellow, green, orange, red, brown and black pigments have been identified. If most of the pigment palette is common to both craftsmen and typical of the second half of the 19th century, innovative uses are recognized for Gallé (wollastonite as an opacifier, manganese oxides in black mixtures) and Brocard (specific black and grey, pigment mixture, shade modification by small addition of white and red pigments). This preliminary work confirms the potential of Raman spectroscopy, not as a simple analytical method but as a way to document the ancient technology of fine art objects and to discriminate between different genuine productions and/or copies. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We present some results, obtained using a multi-scale approach, based on the employment of different and complementary techniques, i.e., Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and µ-Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy equipped with Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) analyses, Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), and Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS), of an integrated activity focused on the characterization of micro-fragments of original and previously restored paintings of the pictorial cycle at the San Panfilo Church in Tornimparte, sampled from specific areas of interest. The study was aimed, on one hand, at the identification of the overlapping restoration materials used during previous conservation interventions (documented and not), and, on the other hand, at understanding the degradation phenomena (current or previous) of the painted surfaces and the architectural structures. The study of stratigraphy allowed us to evaluate the number of layers and the materials (pigments, minerals, and varnishes) present in each layer. As the main result, the identification of blue, black, yellow, and red pigments (both ancient and modern) was achieved. In the case of blue pigments, original (azurite and lazurite) and retouching (Prussian blue and phthalo blue) materials were recognized, together with alteration products (malachite and atacamite). Traces of yellow ochre were found in the yellow areas, and carbon black in the blue and brown areas. In the latter, hematite and red ochre pigments were also recognized. The obtained results are crucial to support the methodological choices during the restoration intervention of the site, and help to ensure the compatibility principles of the materials on which a correct conservative approach is based.