Regional patterns in medieval European glass composition as a provenancing tool

Adlington, Laura Ware; Freestone, Ian C.; Kunicki-Goldfinger, Jerzy J.; Ayers, Tim; Scott, Heather Gilderdale; Eavis, A. J.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2019.104991

Cited by 29 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The high magnesia and phosphate contents further confirm the use of wood ashes (Figure 4b and Figure S5). We note that the glasses from the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris belong to the category of low-lime high-magnesia content (LLHM) as distinguished by Adlington et al (Adlington et al, 2019) (Figure S5). The phosphate content (in the 3-5wt.% range) and the sodium oxide content are relatively high compared to other plant-ash medieval glasses (Figure S5).…”

Section: 31mentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Is the sodium-enrichment a marker from a specific geographical provenance? Sodium-enriched glasses have been found in various medieval glasses (Adlington et al, 2019), such as panels from other windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (Lagabrielle and Velde, 2005;Verita et al, 2005), from the abbey of Saint-Denis, France (Calligaro, 2008), and from Westminster, UK and Cluny, France. (Freestone, 1992) Based on the comparison with the chemical composition of other French glasses from the same period and in particular the glasses from the cathedral of Rouen, France, previous authors have further hypothesized that the low Na 2 O/MgO ratio glasses came from Ile-de-France, France and the high magnesium and sodium content glasses came from Normandy, France.…”

Section: 31mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thirteenth-century stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris: An insight into medieval glazing work practices

Hunault

Bauchau

Boulanger

et al. 2021

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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The restoration of the four northern windows of the 13th century Sainte-Chapelle in Paris from 2011 to 2014 has offered a unique opportunity to investigate the chemical composition and color of medieval glasses. This impressive corpus, covering a total surface of 660m 2 , was created in a record time of a few years. The glasses from ten selected panels were analyzed using non-destructive and non-invasive techniques, with a specific consideration for the color of the glasses. Ion beam analyses performed at the New AGLAE facility enabled revealing that all ancient glasses are potash type glasses made from plant ashes, likely beech, in agreement with previous results on off-site panels. The multivariate analysis of major and minor elements demonstrates the presence of compositional clusters with a small variability suggesting the identification of bundles of glasses. The coloration of the glasses was measured by optical absorption spectroscopy, using a mobile spectrophotometer over the entire UV-visible-NIR energy range. The color palette is made of six colors assigned to typical medieval recipes. The chromophores of the different glasses are identified by combining the chemical composition, optical absorption spectroscopy and colorimetry. Colorless, yellow and purple glasses arise from the subtle redox equilibrium between manganese and iron. Their reduced usage shows their uncertain production. Blue glasses are colored by Co 2+ using saffre from the contemporary German mines, green glasses are colored by Cu 2+ and Fe 3+ using high concentrations of copper and red glasses are striated glass colored by metallic copper nanoparticles. Glass matrix and chromophores form compositional clusters, which are spread among the panels of the four windows suggesting that the glazing of these four windows was run simultaneously by the same atelier using the same supply of glass.

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Section: 31mentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: 31mentioning

confidence: 99%

Thirteenth-century stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris: An insight into medieval glazing work practices

Hunault

Bauchau

Boulanger

et al. 2021

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…Together with the art-historical interpretation, the almost certain relation of the four panels and a Zwickauer production can now also be extended from the chemical analysis's results. The fact that both Ca-Krich and HLLA (or wood-ash and wood-ash-lime classification by [33]) were being used in the three panels analysed supports the correlation with the dating of the windows of Zwickau of 1481 [10], since the period of interest (the course of the 15th century) represents the transition towards the widely recognised HLLA glass, a technological development that became increasingly established in the regions of Germany and Bohemia/Czechia, [20,21,40,47]. Both types are known to have been used simultaneously during the transitional period [33].…”

Section: On Solving An Historical Mysterymentioning

confidence: 76%

“…5b), points to dating these panels to the period before the dissemination of the use of silver staining [1,39]. A time gap between the beginning and third quarter of the 15th century is consistent with the iconographic program and the typical glass composition being produced in the Germanic region [33,40].…”

Section: Raw Materials and The Origins Of Productionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A Transparent Dialogue Between Iconography and Chemical Characterisation: A Set of Foreign Stained Glasses in Portugal

Rodrigues

Machado²,

Martinho³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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This work presents the first results of the iconographic study and analytical characterisation of a set of four stained-glass panels that are part of the collection of National Palace of Pena (Sintra, Portugal). These panels were collected by the King Ferdinand II in the mid-19th century, for his main residence the Palace of Necessidades (Lisbon, Portugal), and only first presented to the general public in 2011. This study contributes with the knowledge of Technichal Art History and Heritage Science to a better and deeper understanding of their history, materials and techniques used in the production, where an art-historical and a scientific approach are applied to attribute their origins. Based on the analysis of the formal and stylistic characteristic of the panels, it is proposed that the drawings used for the production of three of these panels may be based on the design and painting being carried out in the same workshop, and that the four panels have the same provenance (Germany). The composition of the glass and grisaille was determined and colourising elements were identified. Through this approach, conclusive correlation among the analysed glasses was possible: all are calcium rich or calcium-potassium rich types, and the results also suggest that the same source of silica was used for their production. A typical mixture of glass and lead oxide was found on the grisaille applied on the painted panels. However, less usual was the use of a copper oxide pigment for the black grisaille. All these findings support the proposals made regarding provenance and production period (15th century).

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“…During the period covered in this study, the composition of the glass used for stained glass production has changed, in particular, the flux used 25 . Thus, for this work, three characteristic compositions were chosen: silica‐potassium glass, silica‐mixed alkaline glass and silica‐sodium glass, to represent different historical periods.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grisailles: Reconstruction and characterization of historical recipes

Vilarigues

Machado

et al. 2020

Int J of Appl Glass Sci

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This study aims to contribute to the rediscovery of old technologies in the art of stained‐glass painting with grisaille, a dark color paint, used to create contours and shadows, produced by mixing ground lead‐based glass with coloring agents such as iron and copper. The reproduction of selected recipes belonging to five different treatises, dated from the 10th to the 19th century was designed to study the evolution of the composition and production technology of this historical paint and the repercussions of this development on the thermal compatibility of the grisailles with the glass substrates.The results indicate that the raw materials and the production methods remained roughly the same throughout the centuries. However, the chemical composition of the lead‐based glass and the source of colorants (burned metals were replaced by ochre's and earths in the 19th century) did change. These modifications impacted on the morphology of the grisailles paint layers towards a greater homogeneity. The results also reveal low thermal compatibility between these two materials, associated with both the composition and the morphology of the grisaille.

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Regional patterns in medieval European glass composition as a provenancing tool

Cited by 29 publications

References 34 publications

Thirteenth-century stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris: An insight into medieval glazing work practices

Thirteenth-century stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris: An insight into medieval glazing work practices

A Transparent Dialogue Between Iconography and Chemical Characterisation: A Set of Foreign Stained Glasses in Portugal

Grisailles: Reconstruction and characterization of historical recipes

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