Shedding Light on Functional Hybrid Nanocomposites 19th Century Paint Medium

Abstract

AbstractBritish 19th century painters formulated gelled systems often described as ideal paint mediums. These so‐called megilps or gumtions are based on common paint materials like linseed oil, lead acetate, and mastic resin, and allowed painters such as J.M.W Turner to improve their paint's properties and achieve unprecedented effects in an age of innovation. To propose a structural scheme of these hybrid systems of unprecedented complexity, it is paramount to design and study model systems using a broad combination of advanced spectroscopic techniques and microscopies. Through this approach, gel Mediums can be described as nanocomposites based on lead metallogels co‐existing with lead oxide nanoparticles and a partially polymerized fraction. These functional hybrid materials created a real breakthrough on 19th century paints performances.