Old masters under the microscope. Technical and material comparison of a 17th c. mural and panel painting assigned to José de Escovar in Southern Portugal

Gil, Milene; Manso, Marta; Pessanha, Sofia; Manhita, Ana; Cardoso, Ana; Nunes, Manuela Barreto; Relvas, Cátia; Monteiro, Patrícia; Pereira, Catarina; Mirão, José; Ferreira, Teresa

doi:10.1016/j.microc.2019.104396

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Art pieces imported into Latin America were not designed to withstand the effects of the temperatures and humidity of the tropics. There are many studies on the conservation and restoration of large-format artworks, involving the techniques discussed above, but they took place in Europe 1, [19][20][21][22] and did not address tropical factors. There are even fewer restoration protocols suited to the works in question.…”

Section: Historical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing time’s secrets at the National Theatre of Costa Rica via innovative software for cultural heritage research

Barrantes-Madrigal

Zúñiga-Salas

Arce-Tucker

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Establishing affordable, efficient, accessible, innovative, and multidisciplinary methodologies to the diagnosis of the conservation state of an artwork is key to carry out appropriate strategies of conservation and consequently to the creation of modern public policies on cultural heritage. Limited access to large-format paintings is a challenge to restoration scientists seeking to obtain information quickly, in a non-destructive and non-invasive manner, and identify regions of interest. Therefore, we put forward two unique software tools based on multispectral imaging techniques, with the long-term aim to assess the artist’s intentions, creative process, and colour palette. This development paves the way for a comprehensive and multidisciplinary understanding of the mysteries encompassed in each pictorial layer, through the study of their physical and chemical characteristics. We conducted the first ever study on Musas I and Musas II, two large-format paintings by Italian artist Carlo Ferrario, located in the National Theatre of Costa Rica. In this study, we used our novel imaging techniques to choose regions of interest in order to study sample layers; while also assessing the works’ state of conservation and possible biodeterioration. We explored the applications of our two versatile software tools, RegionOfInterest and CrystalDistribution, and confirmed paint stratigraphies by means of microscopy and spectroscopy analyses (OM, SEM-EDX, Fluorescent microscopy, FTIR-ATR and micro-Raman). In a pilot study, we identified the artist’s main colour palette: zinc white, lead white, chrome yellow, lead read, viridian, along with artificial vermilion and ultramarine pigments. We were able to identify artificial vermilion and ultramarine and distinguish them from the natural pigments using CrystalDistribution to map the average size and diameter of the pigment crystals within the paint layers. This study demonstrated that software-based multidisciplinary imaging techniques are novel in establishing preventive and non-invasive methods for historical painting conservation studies, in addition, this study provides tools with great potential to be used in the future in applications such as virtual restoration.

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Section: Historical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing time’s secrets at the National Theatre of Costa Rica via innovative software for cultural heritage research

Barrantes-Madrigal

Zúñiga-Salas

Arce-Tucker

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…In mural paintings, earth pigments were the main painting materials used for frescoes due to their chemical stability in an alkaline environment [26][27][28][29][30]. With mural secco techniques, the color palette could be extended and the use of brighter artificial yellow pigments such as Naples yellow and Lead tin yellow (I and II) were reported in Portuguese mural paintings made in the 16th and 17th centuries [31,32].…”

Section: Cadmium Based Pigmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Two Working Palettes of Almada Negreiros at DN Building in Lisbon (1939–1940): First Analytical Approach and Insight on the Use of Cd Based Pigments

et al. 2021

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This paper reports the first analytical approach carried out on two working palettes by Portuguese modernist master Almada Negreiros, found in 1991 behind old wood cabinets at the DN building in Lisbon. This is the only known occasion Almada left behind the color experiments done before starting to paint in the nearby walls and as such, it is a unique opportunity to analyze the materials and painting techniques that were originally used. The analytical setup comprised in loco technical photography in Vis, UVF and NIR; p-OM, spectrophotometry in Vis and h-EDXRF, complemented by OM-Vis, µ-FT-IR and VP-SEM-EDS of painting micro-samples and pigments in powder form. Preliminary results suggested the use of fresco painting technique and revealed some technical details, such as the use of a coarse lime sand finishing mortar mixed with natural vegetable fibers, and the extensive use of cadmium-based pigments that were not commonly used (or even recommended) in an alkaline environment. The Cd pigments were used alone or in mixtures with Fe based pigments in the warm hues and with cobalt and ultramarine blue pigments in some green paint layers. No clear evidence of organic materials that could have been used as binders was detected.

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“…Infrared and UV authentications were as described in earlier reports (13)(14)(15)(16)(30)(31). Ambient light photograph of the oil painting was taken using a Canon 5D Mark III camera.…”

Section: Infrared-uv Imaging Of the Paintingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The successful restoration of artworks requires an in-depth analysis of the pieces. For instance, with the analysis of old paintings so much information can be attained such as the pigments used in the piece of art and changes that may occur in these pigments over time (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6), organic and inorganic substances (7)(8)(9)(10)(11), the binders (12)(13), the areas with retouches or patches on these pieces, the areas with varnish, structural deteriorations (such as cracking, flaking, peeling, and tearing) (14)(15), painting technique of the artist (16) and the types of the varnish (17)(18)(19) or the canvas that were used (such as silk, linen, hemp, cotton, jute) (20) which are of great importance for the restoration of these paintings. One can even have an idea about the palette of the artist given that he or she has the chance to analyze several pieces of art that belonged to that artist (21).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of the Alphabet Reform Painting

Cakmak

Karadağ

Kayaman‐Apohan

et al. 2021

Journal of the Turkish Chemical Society Section A: Chemistry

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The Alphabet Reform painting which shows Ataturk teaching the new alphabet is important for the history of the Republic of Turkey. This painting was made by Nazmi Ziya GÜRAN in 1933. The painting is now maintained by the Ministry of Interior. In this work, the Alphabet Reform painting was analyzed for characterization and restoration purposes. The fabric of the canvas, pigments (organic-inorganic) and the binder of paint were characterized by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and highperformance liquid chromatography-coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) analysis methods. The CIEL*a*b* color parameters of the paint were determined by color measurement spectrophotometer. According to the results, the canvas was found to be of fibers of vegetable origin and the binders were determined to be linseed oil and dammar varnish. Red alizarin (madder lake organic pigment) and dark blue ultramarine pigments were detected as the organic pigments while CdS (yellow), Pb red (flesh color), PbCO3 (white), ZnO (white), BaSO4 (white), FeO (brown) and Cr2O3 (green color) were detected as the inorganic ones.

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Old masters under the microscope. Technical and material comparison of a 17th c. mural and panel painting assigned to José de Escovar in Southern Portugal

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Revealing time’s secrets at the National Theatre of Costa Rica via innovative software for cultural heritage research

Revealing time’s secrets at the National Theatre of Costa Rica via innovative software for cultural heritage research

On the Two Working Palettes of Almada Negreiros at DN Building in Lisbon (1939–1940): First Analytical Approach and Insight on the Use of Cd Based Pigments

Characterization of the Alphabet Reform Painting

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