Spectroscopic investigation of a ‘Virgin of Sorrows’ canvas painting: A multi-method approach

Abstract

The investigation of unmatched ancient objects is an attentive and arduous activity to conservation scientists. An important aspect of art analysis is the question on sampling and avoiding damage on the artefact during the study. A possible way to maximize the information that is extracted from the historical object is using several sensitive micro-analytical techniques on the same micro samples. As an illustration of this multi-method approach, in this work, a canvas painting 'Virgin of Sorrows' was studied and its materials were analysed in order to roughly date and to authenticate this object of art. Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE), neutron activation analysis (NAA), optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy (MRS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used, obtaining successful results. These methods allowed identifying the different inorganic pigments (iron oxide, carbon black, white lead, Prussian blue) as well as indigo. Optical microscopy and SEM revealed the layered structure of the samples, while FT-IR enabled to determine the nature of the varnish used (shellac). By using these complementary techniques, it was possible to identify the materials in the painting, which are indicative for the period of manufacturing the artwork.

Non-destructive analysis of museum objects by fibre-optic Raman spectroscopy

“…Raman spectroscopy is such a technique, allowing material identification from particles down to 1 μm. This method has already been used for the investigation of different artefacts, including panel paintings [4, 5], glass [6], wall paintings [7, 8], manuscripts [9–11] and historical biomaterials [12, 13]. Although this technique used to be expensive and highly specialised, it is becoming increasingly more accessible to large museums owing to instrumental improvements and lower costs [14–17].…”

A Comparative Study of Pigments from the Wall Paintings of Two Greek Byzantine Churches

“…The vivid red pigment (Figures 1d and 2a) on the surface is composed of mercury (HgO 58.1 wt%) and sulfur (SO 3 29.7 wt%) ( Table 1), which is clearly attributed to cinnabar (Katsibiri and Boon 2004;Ortega-Aviles et al 2005;Kovala-Demertzi 2012). Raman spectra and Raman microscopic images of cinnabar are shown in Figure 3a.…”

“…Both destructive and nondestructive interdisciplinary analytical techniques are employed for these analyses (Ortega-Aviles et al 2005;Daniilia, Andrikopoulos, et al 2008;Ostrooumov 2009). Although several studies have been published regarding the characterization of Greek Byzantine murals and icons (Daniilia, Minopoulou et al 2008;Sotiropoulou et al 2008;Hein, Karatasios, and Mourelatos 2009), the Byzantine wall paintings from Kastoria have only recently been investigated and mainly through the ongoing archaeometrical research of our team on the Kastoria's Byzantine artefacts (Pavlidou et al 2006;Iordanidis et al 2011aIordanidis et al , 2011bIordanidis et al , 2013.…”

The characterization of canvas painting by the Serbian artist Milo Milunović using X-ray fluorescence, micro-Raman and FTIR spectroscopy

“…Hence, the risk of damage/information ratio should be considered and optimized carefully for each investigation (Dredge et al, 2003;Ortega-Avilés et al, 2005). Significant progress in this area is made by continuous advances in non-invasive experimental techniques (Adriaens, 2005;Miliani et al, 2010;Alfeld and Broekaert, 2013).…”