Original Painting Research Articles

Original wall paintings at the church of the Saviour in Chvabiani (Upper Svaneti, Georgia) and Byzantine art at the turn of the tenth to eleventh centuries

The article deals with a little known ensemble of wall paintings at the Church of the Saviour in Chvabiani, Upper Svaneti, Georgia. The initial decoration of the church dated to 978- 1001 has survived mainly in the apse. The badly preserved Theophany in the conch attracted the attention of scholars who analyzed its iconography. The Apostles in the lower zone, however, were considered to be repainted at a later date. Our examination of these wall paintings revealed no traces of later additions. Through the analysis of technique and style we aim to prove that the both compositions belong to the turn of the tenth to eleventh century. These wall paintings show unusually high quality and close affinities with Byzantine art of this period. In our view, they could be a work of a visiting artist, probably a Georgian trained at some major Byzantine artistic center. He may well have been among the artists working on wall paintings at the cathedrals built and decorated by order of kings and church hierarchs during the late tenth to early eleventh centuries, in Tao-Klarjeti or other lands of the Georgian kingdom still under formation.

The Restoration of the Paintings of Le Corbusier in the Villa E-1027, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes Maritimes

The restoration of the paintings of Le Corbusier in the Villa E-1027 was preceded by an important study phase including systematic sampling of the paintings. One purpose of the study was to determine the presence of the original paintings under the global over-paint made by a local craftsman in the seventies. Four of the eight paintings have been rediscovered, in a much better condition than expected. These paintings are a fragile testimony of the particular use of “Ripolin” by Le Corbusier, in the context of its use by others famous artists as Picasso or Picabia in the same period.

Visual thinking strategy in the medical curriculum: training the “clinical eye” in classrooms and art museums

Medicine intertwines with arts as part of the wider field of humanities since its origin; they integrate creating a new synergy. Clinical diagnosis involves the observation, description and interpretation of visual information. These skills can be developed and trained by analysing visual art works. Visual thinking strategy (VTS) has been recognized as a legitimate cognitive tool (1,2). Thanks to a collaboration between our medical faculty (Sant’Andrea Hospital) and the Borghese Gallery and Museum we are piloting an innovative experience with small-group interactive sessions within the course of Methodology (3rd-year students). This activity is carried out under the tutelage of art education curators and faculty members. Sessions focused on the analyses of selected original paintings. Students were evaluated through pre- and posttest questionnaires and with short oral presentations. Discussion was warm and enthusiastic and students appreciated the interaction with faculty on a non-medical level. By engaging with art works, students learn a broader conception of human-ness, enhancing mindfulness, rendering learning enjoyable and meaningful. Museums as teaching labs are valuable resources for enhancing learning beyond the classroom walls. VTS in medicine encourages critical thinking and problem solving, thus improving clinical abilities by means of observation and clinical reasoning, promoting empathy and getting used with team work. These activities can be integrated with art works shown in the classroom as clinical triggers: several figurative paintings are shown within our course of human and clinical anatomy (first and second-year students), i.e. self-portraits of Piero della Francesca and Mantegna’s “Virgin and child” well illustrate goiter; Raphael’s La Fornarina and Rubens’ “The three graces” show breast cancer. Rombouts’ “Allegory of the five senses” is a nice introductory image for the sense organs as Bigot’s “A doctor examining urine” for the urinary tract. An art-based approach to teaching observational skills should be included continuously within required courses in the medical curriculum.

Methods of Persuasion for Religious Donations in Comedia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y sus milagros

On September 10, 1601, a Spanish Jeronymite by the name of Diego de Ocaña, from the monastery Extremeño de Guadalupe, stood in Potosí Bolivia’s plaza 10 de Noviembre. He watched his own play titled Comedia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y sus milagros be performed for the first time in front of thousands of Spaniards, creoles, mestizos, and indigenous peoples. The play, which incorporated one of Ocaña’s Virgin of Guadalupe paintings, highlighted the historical and miraculous moments of the original painting in various individual scenes. Modern critics have tried to explain the play’s meaning and symbolism, as well as Ocaña’s personal interests and intentions. Over time, Comedia de Nuestra Señora has generally and briefly been recognized as a propagandistic play fueled by Ocaña’s economic motives. This article aims to avoid generalities by providing examples that demonstrate how Ocaña employed persuasive methods to obtain religious donations. Some of the ways he achieved his goal were by utilizing varied poetic verses, exemplary characters, and promises of divine assistance. Similarly, he took advantage of the preestablished celebratory and religious ambience, described in Viaje por el Nuevo Mundo , which consequently allowed theatrical spaces to enter religious spaces. This confused the two, making the theatrical more believable and “real.” Finally, Ocaña knew that his performance would take place in Potosí, where reciprocity was an active political and social tradition. Every kind gesture and offering he made to the Potosí residents would have required compensation. I argue that these tactics were used by Ocaña in order to guarantee that participants and spectators would make donations to the Jeronymite monastery and never forget the importance and divine power of the Virgin of Guadalupe. (NG)

Prediction of Incomplete Chromatic Adaptation Under Illuminant A from Images

The authors propose a method of image rendering to predict the incomplete chromatic-adaptation effect for paintings. A simple model of incomplete chromatic adaptation is developed to predict the appearance of the paintings under the illumination of an incandescent light source and to produce the full color image on a display device. The authors extend the von Kries framework to incomplete chromatic adaptation. An index parameter representing the degree of incomplete chromatic adaptation is defined based on the color temperature of the black-body radiators. First, the optimum value of the index parameter is determined by visual experiments on memory matching using real paintings and color patches, so that the color image produced on the display is matched to the original appearance of objects in a real scene. This approach is shown to have better performance in comparison with the traditional CIECAM02. Next, an algorithm is presented to estimate the index parameter of the incomplete adaptation index based on the image data of colorimetric rendering for a target painting. It is found that the index parameter can be estimated using only three features extracted from the color image. The color images rendered with the estimated parameter are used to predict the incomplete chromatic-adaptation effect for the original painting under the incandescent light source. The feasibility of the proposed method is confirmed based on a series of experiments using a variety of paintings. © 2014 Society for Imaging Science and Technology. [DOI:10.2352/J.ImagingSci.Technol.2014.58.3.030403]

Degradation process of lead chromate in paintings by Vincent van Gogh studied by means of spectromicroscopic methods. Part 5. Effects of nonoriginal surface coatings into the nature and distribution of chromium and sulfur species in chrome yellow paints.

The darkening of lead chromate yellow pigments, caused by a reduction of the chromate ions to Cr(III) compounds, is known to affect the appearance of several paintings by Vincent van Gogh. In previous papers of this series, we demonstrated that the darkening is activated by light and depends on the chemical composition and crystalline structure of the pigments. In this work, the results of Part 2 are extended and complemented with a new study aimed at deepening the knowledge of the nature and distribution of Cr and S species at the interface between the chrome yellow paint and the nonoriginal coating layer. For this purpose, three microsamples from two varnished paintings by Van Gogh and a waxed low relief by Gauguin (all originally uncoated) have been examined. Because nonoriginal coatings are often present in artwork by Van Gogh and contemporaries, the understanding of whether or not their application has influenced the morphological and/or physicochemical properties of the chrome yellow paint underneath is relevant in view of the conservation of these masterpieces. In all the samples studied, microscopic X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) and X-ray absorption near edge structure (μ-XANES) investigations showed that Cr(III)-based alteration products are present in the form of grains inside the coating (generally enriched of S species) and also homogeneously widespread at the paint surface. The distribution of Cr(III) species may be explained by the mechanical friction caused by the coating application by brush that picked up and redistributed the superficial Cr compounds, likely already present in the reduced state as result of the photodegradation process. The analysis of the XANES profiles allowed us to obtain new insights into the nature of the Cr(III) alteration products, that were identified as sulfate-, oxide-, organo-metal-, and chloride-based compounds. Building upon the knowledge acquired through the examination of original paint samples and from the investigation of aged model paints in the last Part 4 paper, in this study we aim to characterize a possible relation between the chemical composition of the coating and the chrome yellow degradation pathways by studying photochemically aged model samples covered with a dammar varnish contaminated with sulfide and sulfate salts. Cr speciation results did not show any evidence of the active role of the varnish and added S species on the reduction process of chrome yellows.

Raman spectroscopic signatures of the yellow and ochre paints from artist palette of J. Matejko (1838–1893)

The Raman and complementary spectroscopic analyses were performed using the exceptional possibility of research on the XIX c. original paint materials of the artist palette of J. Matejko stored in the National Museum in Cracow. The yellow and ochre-based paints characteristic for Matejko’s workshop and selected from the ensemble of 273 labelled tubes (brand of R. Ainé/Paris) supplied during the period of 1880–1893 were investigated. Highly specific Raman spectra were obtained for paints containing mixtures of the Zn- and Sn-modified Pb–Sb pigment, and also for the ochre-based ones. A clear pigment discrimination of the mixture of cadmium yellow (CdS), cinnabar (HgS) and lead white (2PbCO3⋅Pb(OH)2) was possible by means of Raman data collected under different excitations at 514nm and 785nm. It was shown that the Raman spectra complemented by the XRF, SEM–EDX and in some cases also by the LIPS and FTIR data ensure reliable pigment identification in multi-component paints containing secondary species and impurities. The reported spectral signatures will be used for non-destructive investigation of the collection of about 300 oil paintings of J. Matejko. In view of the comparative research on polish painting which point out that richness of modified Naples yellows clearly distinguish Matejko’s artworks from other ones painted in the period of 1850–1883, the Raman data of these paints can provide support in the authentication studies.

A study on reversibility of BEVA®371 in the lining of paintings

The adhesive properties of BEVA®371 used in the lining of paintings and the reversibility and invasiveness of the operation as a function of the different application conditions has been investigated in this work. Peel and lap shear mechanical tests on specific samples were then done in order to study the adhesion effectiveness. After the tests, cross-sections of samples were observed under optical microscope to examine the adhesive distribution; moreover, the samples were examined with SEM analysis to evaluate the adhesive invasiveness. Also, a series of removal tests of lining fabrics from an original painting were done in order to establish the method allowing the highest degree of reversibility. The influence of artificial ageing was evaluated on a series of samples subjected to thermal-hygrometric stress for some months. Changes in the elastic and adhesive properties were observed, but all together the study indicates that from the mechanical point of view BEVA®371 is a quite stable material for lining operations made with properly controlled application methods.

Raman study of different crystalline forms of PbCrO4 and PbCr1−xSxO4 solid solutions for the noninvasive identification of chrome yellows in paintings: a focus on works by Vincent van Gogh

Chrome yellows, a class of pigments frequently used by painters of the Impressionism and Post‐impressionism period, are known for their different chemical stability; the latter depends on the chemical composition (PbCrO4, PbCr1−xSxO4) and crystalline structure (monoclinic or orthorhombic) of the material. The possibility to distinguish among different forms of this pigment is therefore relevant in order to extend knowledge on the corresponding degradation process that is observed on several original paintings. For this purpose, three paintings conserved at the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam) were analyzed using noninvasive Raman spectroscopy, while equivalent investigations employing bench‐top instrumentation were performed to obtain information from micro‐samples originating from these works of art. In each painting, the chrome yellow was identified either as monoclinic PbCrO4 or in the form of monoclinic PbCr1−xSxO4 (x < 0.25) or S‐rich orthorhombic PbCr1−xSxO4 (x ~ 0.5). Our ability to make this fairly subtle distinction is based on a Raman study of several oil paint model samples made up of monoclinic and/or orthorhombic crystalline forms of PbCrO4 and PbCr1−xSxO4 (0.1 ≤ × ≤ 0.8). These paints were studied using several excitation wavelengths (namely 785.0, 532.0, 514.5, and 488 nm). Because of the absence of the resonance Raman effect, which strongly enhances the chromate symmetric stretching band, and the absence of any laser‐induced photodecomposition, it is advantageous to acquire data at 785.0 nm. The band‐shape and the position of the chromate bending modes proved to be more sensitive to the solid solution composition and crystalline structure than the stretching modes and can be used as distinctive spectral markers to discriminate among the different chrome yellow forms that are present. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cleaning painted surfaces: evaluation of leaching phenomenon induced by solvents applied for the removal of gel residues

Cleaning is one of the most important, delicate, and at the same time controversial processes in the conservation treatment of paintings. Although a strict definition of cleaning would be the removal of dirt, grime, or other accretions (surface cleaning), in the conservation field, cleaning is used in the broader meaning to include thinning/removing altered or “unwanted layers” of materials without damaging or altering the physicochemical properties of the surfaces to be preserved. The cleaning of unvarnished paintings is one of the most critical issues that are currently discussed. Several studies exist regarding different cleaning tools, such as gels, soaps, enzymes, ionic liquids, and foams, as well as various dry methods and lasers, but only a few have been performed on the risk associated with the use of water and organic solvents for the cleaning treatments in relation to the original paint binder. The aim of the study is to verify analytically the behavior of water gelling agents during cleaning treatments and the interaction of the following elements: water or organic solvents applied for the removal of gel residues with the original lipid paint binder. For this purpose, the study was conducted on a fragment of canvas painting (sixteenth to seventeenth century) of Soprintendenza per i Beni Storici, Artistici ed Etnoantropologici del Friuli Venezia Giulia (Superintendence for the Historical, Artistic and Ethno-anthropological Heritage of Friuli Venezia Giulia), Udine by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and scanning electron microscopy.

Blurry as tremor

Although Dr. Sohrab's suggestion is interesting, we present a more likely explanation of the blurry garment worn by one of the “Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse” (1664) by Frans Hals. One of us (A.E.) is curator at the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, the Netherlands, and studied the original painting more precisely. The woman (third from the left) is wearing a different white garment than the other Regentesses. Frans Hals tried to reproduce the semi-transparency of the …

Multi-analytical characterisation of D’Aprés Cormon by José Veloso Salgado

This case study reveals the analytical characterisation carried out on ‘D’Aprés Cormon’ (1891) by Veloso Salgado, a copy of ‘Caïn’ (1880) by Fernando Cormon, belonging nowadays to Musée d’Orsay. Infrared Reflectography made in situ revealed underdrawing grid that was used to transpose the original painting to a smaller scale, pictorial style, execution method and retouched/restored areas. In situ EDXRF analysis together with Raman microscopy allowed the identification of gypsum, lead white, titanium white, yellow ochre, vermilion, ultramarine and lamp black. These results provide valuable information about the Salgado’s palette and his production technique.

Pterosaurs: natural history, evolution, anatomy

For 150 million years, the skies didn't belong to birds--they belonged to the pterosaurs. These flying reptiles, which include the pterodactyls, shared the world with the nonavian dinosaurs until their extinction 65 million years ago. Some pterosaurs, such as the giant azhdarchids, were the largest flying animals of all time, with wingspans exceeding thirty feet and standing heights comparable to modern giraffes. This richly illustrated book takes an unprecedented look at these astonishing creatures, presenting the latest findings on their anatomy, ecology, and extinction. Pterosaurs features some 200 stunning illustrations, including original paintings by Mark Witton and photos of rarely seen fossils. After decades of mystery, paleontologists have finally begun to understand how pterosaurs are related to other reptiles, how they functioned as living animals, and, despite dwarfing all other flying animals, how they managed to become airborne. Here you can explore the fossil evidence of pterosaur behavior and ecology, learn about the skeletal and soft-tissue anatomy of pterosaurs, and consider the newest theories about their cryptic origins. This one-of-a-kind book covers the discovery history, paleobiogeography, anatomy, and behaviors of more than 130 species of pterosaur, and also discusses their demise at the end of the Mesozoic. The most comprehensive book on pterosaurs ever published Features some 200 illustrations, including original paintings by the author Covers every known species and major group of pterosaurs Describes pterosaur anatomy, ecology, behaviors, diversity, and more Encourages further study with 500 references to primary pterosaur literature Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

The use of scanning electron microscopy to the study of the painting from the Church in Radcze

One of the main tasks in the study of historic buildings is the need to identify the original materials and extensions, which often have historic character. The next task concerns the determination of the composition and structure of the historical, diagnosis technique to develop original paint. The article presents the preliminary results of paintings. Methods were used with the scanning electron microscope was equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS).

Conference Report: Inaugural Meeting of the Russian Society for Music Theory (OTM)

[1] The inaugural conference of the Russian Society for Music Theory (Obshchiestvo Tieorii Muzyki or OTM) was a huge success.(1) The conference, held from September 30 to October 2, 2013, took place in one of the world's most stunning cities, St. Petersburg, in two of its most distinguished institutions: St. Petersburg State University and the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music. Coming from as far afield as Australia, Azerbaijan, England, France, Israel, Florida, and Texas-and with a strong showing from Russia's two historic capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg itself-participants were treated to a smorgasbord of events that showcased the uniqueness of music theory as practiced in the Russian Federation. With five plenary talks, some 70 paper presentations of 30 or 45 minutes running in three or four concurrent sessions, spirited and sometimes heated Q&As, two concerts of Russian folk music and dance, a presentation of publications from St. Petersburg Conservatory Press, a lively business meeting, coffee breaks, collegial meals, and a long, jubilant closing session, the conference represented a historic step forward for Russian music theory.[2] In a sense the Russians are late to the game. The French society of music analysis began in 1985, the Italian in 1989. The British began the Society for Music Analysis in 1992, the Dutch-Flemish society began in 1999, and the German Gesellschaft started in 2000. With their rich theoretical tradition, it was logical for the Russians to begin a music theory society. Notably, the Europeans also launched journals as they began their societies, and the Russians have as well. At the OTM business meeting, editor of the Russian Journal of the Society for Music Theory, Olga Loseva (Moscow Conservatory), discussed this new publication, which has already launched its first issue (www.journal-otmroo.ru).(2) Though not yet apparent on its website, the interface will ultimately be available in English as well as Russian, and, more importantly, the journal will accept submissions in four languages: Russian, German, French, and English.(3) Marina Karaseva (Moscow Conservatory) also announced, at the opening session, the launch of a new social network, SPLAYN (www.splayn.com). A combination of three words-sound, play, and network-this site allows musicians and aficionados alike to freely exchange ideas in a social-network environment. Finally, OTM is now part of a larger federation of European societies of music theory and analysis, which includes the French, Italian, Dutch-Flemish, British, and German Societies. OTM will be taking part, therefore, in the next quadrennial EuroMAC conference in Leuven, Belgium, in September 2014, as a full-fledged member of that federation.(4)[3] The opening of the conference took place in the historic Petrovsky Hall of the university, a splendid, intimate, ornate chamber from the 18th century with original paintings and artwork.(5) Before a standing-room-only crowd, the president of the society, music theorist Alexander Sokolov, opened with a keynote address about Russian music scholarship in light of recent arts initiatives of the Russian government. This might sound strange coming from a theorist, were it not for the fact that Sokolov is the rector of the Moscow Conservatory and a former minister of culture (from 2004 to 2008) of the Russian Federation! Music theory topics started in earnest with the two keynote speeches immediately following Sokolov's address: Hermann Danuser (Humbolt University, Berlin) spoke about metadrama and metamusic in Wagner's Die Meistersinger, and Fred Lerdahl (Columbia University, New York) spoke about generative music theory in relation to the Schenkerian and Riemannian traditions.[4] Remarkably, the OTM organizers provided either written or oral translations for all presentations of the conference, into Russian or English depending on the need. For the roughly seventeen foreign participants who did not know Russian, about six young women from the university's philological department were available to interpret simultaneously. …

Contribution of the Microbial Communities Detected on an Oil Painting on Canvas to Its Biodeterioration

In this study, we investigated the microbial community (bacteria and fungi) colonising an oil painting on canvas, which showed visible signs of biodeterioration. A combined strategy, comprising culture-dependent and -independent techniques, was selected. The results derived from the two techniques were disparate. Most of the isolated bacterial strains belonged to related species of the phylum Firmicutes, as Bacillus sp. and Paenisporosarcina sp., whereas the majority of the non-cultivable members of the bacterial community were shown to be related to species of the phylum Proteobacteria, as Stenotrophomonas sp. Fungal communities also showed discrepancies: the isolated fungal strains belonged to different genera of the order Eurotiales, as Penicillium and Eurotium, and the non-cultivable belonged to species of the order Pleosporales and Saccharomycetales. The cultivable microorganisms, which exhibited enzymatic activities related to the deterioration processes, were selected to evaluate their biodeteriorative potential on canvas paintings; namely Arthrobacter sp. as the representative bacterium and Penicillium sp. as the representative fungus. With this aim, a sample taken from the painting studied in this work was examined to determine the stratigraphic sequence of its cross-section. From this information, “mock paintings,” simulating the structure of the original painting, were prepared, inoculated with the selected bacterial and fungal strains, and subsequently examined by micro-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, in order to determine their potential susceptibility to microbial degradation. The FTIR-spectra revealed that neither Arthrobacter sp. nor Penicillium sp. alone, were able to induce chemical changes on the various materials used to prepare “mock paintings.” Only when inoculated together, could a synergistic effect on the FTIR-spectra be observed, in the form of a variation in band position on the spectrum.

Image Recovery for Ancient Chinese Paintings

This work presents a new method to virtually recover ancient Chinese paintings in electronic form. Two factors result in the degradation of ancient Chinese paintings: pigment fading and paper aging. Thus, the proposed method first uses guided filter to enhance the original painting image. Then, the semi-transparent stroke as the image foreground can be extracted from the background of painting image by adopting a novel bi-extracting method. Two independent maps that respectively produced by the saliency detection and the pseudoalpha matting are fused to represent the foreground stroke. Finally, the ancient painting image is recovered by altering the color of the background. Experiments on a variety of ancient Chinese paintings show the robustness and accuracy of the proposed method.

The old Misericórdia church of Barcelos: architecture, painting, altar pieces and decorative arts

The Misericordia of Barcelos is presently installed in the former convent of S. Francisco,to where it moved in 1836, after the dissolution of the religious orders held two yearsbefore. The former headquarters of the brotherhood were ceded to the Municipality andits church would be included in the New City Hall, begun in 1849. A recent architecturalintervention revealed the old church, and access to unpublished documentation, depositedin the archives of the confraternity, has enabled us to reconstruct some of the majorphases of its construction and execution of original paintings and altarpieces.

AVALIAÇÃO DA REMOÇÃO DA CAMADA PRIMER NUM PROCESSO DE PINTURA AUTOMOTIVA, EFEITOS ECONÔMICOS E IMPACTOS AMBIENTAIS

Automotive industry worldwide faces strong pressures towards the reduction of environmental impacts caused by the productive process. At the same time, the highly competitive car market causes an increasingly constant search for cost reduction and productivity rising in this industrial segment. Facing this need for reduction on the environmental impact associated with the increase of productivity in the automotive painting processes, this study proposes the investigation of the possibility to remove the paint layer known as primer, evaluating the effects on coating properties through laboratory analysis and tests inside the production line. The laboratory tests involved the comparison between the proposed paint structure and original paint structure properties, while tests in the production line involved the evaluation of panels and prototypes. Almost all results showed that the paint system proposed works properly. The adoption of proposed paint structure would allow environmental performance gains and productivity increasing by reducing chemicals usage and atmospheric emissions.

Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman of 1656 Dissected

More than 350 years ago, Rembrandt painted Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman. This group portrait, featuring important members of the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons, belongs to the series of paintings of the guild. Rembrandt's masterpiece is one of the most famous historical images of a dissection of the brain. Unfortunately, a large part of the original painting was destroyed by a fire. Still visible, however, is how Dr Deijman, doctor of medicine and reader in anatomy, performs a dissection of the cerebral membranes in the corpse of the executed criminal Joris Fonteijn. Because there is no consensus about the nature, accuracy, and symbolic significance of the anatomic structures depicted in the painting, we compared the painting with a real anatomic dissection of the skull of a cadaver to unravel the hidden messages behind this anatomy lesson.