The research results presented in this paper are part of a larger study on the materials and techniques used in polychrome altarpieces of gilded woodcarving decoration ("talha dourada") in Portugal. The paper focuses on a narrative Portuguese Altarpiece from Miranda do Douro, considered one of the masterpieces of "talha dourada" among all the retables of the Iberian Peninsula in XVII(th) and XVIII(th) centuries. Although on the Portuguese territory, the altarpiece was made by artists from the Royal Spanish school of Valladolid, under a mannerist style. Thus the study opens a window on the artists' circulation between Spain and Portugal and influences of the Spanish schools in Baroque epoch on the Portuguese "talha". During its history this altarpiece underwent several transformations and extensive conservation treatments in 1989. On this occasion more than 50 samples were collected and analyzed using an interdisciplinary multi-technique methodology. 27 of these samples are chosen for this study in order to investigate the chromatic palette, the materials and techniques used in the polychromy of the retable. A novel protocol of investigation using different conventional and unconventional analytical techniques (OM + fluorescent staining tests on cross-sections, Raman microscopy, XRD, XRF, X-ray micro-CT, SEM-EDX, MALDI-TOF-MS and LC-MS/MS) was established within an innovative research project (http://sites.fct.unl.pt/gilt-teller/) and applied on these samples. This protocol is necessary to confirm the results obtained in the 1989 campaign and to have further insight into the gilding and polychrome decoration materials and techniques and the additional information reported in the historical documents. The material and technical history of this important altarpiece will be thus re-documented from a scientific perspective, meant to confirm and bring new information on the decorative technique used in the creation of this complex Portuguese monument.
<p>O artigo apresenta um estudo interdisciplinar e multi-tecnico dos materiais e das tecnicas de douramento em varios retabulos Portugueses da epoca Barreca, desenvolvido durante um projecto de investigac;ao financiado pela Fundac;ao para Ciencia e Tecnologia em Portugal (PTDC/EAT-EAT/116700/2010).</p> <p>Foram usadas tecnicas microsc6picas,em conjunto com difracc;ao de raios X, microtomografia computadorizada de raios X, espectroscopias de microFTIR e microRaman para caracterizar a estrutura estratigrafica de 49 amostras provenientes de 7 retabulos das areas de Lisboa/ Cascais e de Santarem. A investigac;ao pretende ser tambem um estudo comparative entre materiais e tecnicas de douramento utilizados em retabulos do mesmo perfodo hist6rico, mas provenientes de duas areas geograficas diferentes.</p> <p> </p>
Nem tudo o que brilha é ouro: douramento com folha de prata, outro meio para um fim
ResumoComplementando e enriquecendo retábulos e imagens, o uso de folhas metálicas tornou-se paradigmático dos interiores religiosos portugueses nos séculos XVII e XVIII. Apesar do ouro ter sido sempre favorecido desenvolveram-se, simultaneamente, técnicas alternativas para atingir o desejado lustre dourado, com recurso a folhas metálicas brancas cobertas com velaturas coloridas. Referências históricas, presentes em numerosos textos de técnicas artísticas, indiciam que estas técnicas de contrafação são praticadas desde há muito. Pouco mencionado, o processo de prateamento é genericamente descrito como idêntico ao de douramento, sendo dada muito mais atenção aos vernizes dourados a ser aplicados sobre a superfície prateada, o que permite que a sua evolução material e técnica seja seguida. Baseado num inquérito a estas referências, é feito um enquadramento destes desenvolvimentos e da terminologia associada, tendo presente que o fulgor alvo das folhas de prata também brilhou por direito próprio.
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AbstractComplementing carved wood altarpieces and sculptures, the use of metallic leaves became paradigmatic of Portuguese religious ambiences during the 17th and 18th centuries. Although gold has always been favoured, alternative techniques to attain the desired golden lustre were developed simultaneously, mainly with the use of white metallic leaves covered with coloured glazes. Written historic references, present in various technical art texts, indicate that these imitation gildings have been a long time practice. Seldom mentioned, the silvering part of the process is generically described as identical to gilding, while much more attention is given to the golden glazes to be applied over the silvered surface, allowing for their material and technical evolution to be followed. Based on a survey of these historical references, an outline on these developments and the associated terminology is made, keeping in mind that the silver leaf's white glitter also shone on its own right.
Article / ArtigoAll that glitters is not gold: silver leaf gilding, another means to an end
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