Laser Spectroscopy of Materials Used in Paintings

Abstract

A wide variety of natural resins, waxes, gums, drying oils and proteinaceous materials used on paintings are photoluminescent. The photoluminescence spectra of these materials are reported and discussed. The application of this technique towards the identification of these materials is considered. Both bulk materials and films prepared from selected bulk materials were studied and a comparison is made between the bulk and film samples. Temperature and excitation wavelength studies are reported and discussed for several of the samples.