In situ Raman microscopy applied to large Central Asian paintings

Procedures and versatile Raman instruments are described for the non‐destructive in situ analysis of pigments in large paintings. A commercial Raman microscope is mounted on a gantry for scanning paintings with dimensions exceeding 1 m². Design principles and the physical implementation of the set‐up are outlined. Advantages/disadvantages and performance of the gantry‐based instrument are compared with those of a mobile Raman probe, attached to the same Raman microscope. The two set‐ups are applied to Central Asian thangka paintings. The utility of the gantry‐mounted Raman microscope is demonstrated on a 19th century Buddhist painting from Buriatia, South Siberia. Surprisingly, three arsenic‐based pigments, i.e. orpiment, realgar, and pararealgar, are found all in the same painting. Pararealgar is used for painting the numerous yellow areas. Realgar is admixed with red lead for adjusting its orange tint. Finally, orpiment is blended with Prussian blue for producing green. Traditional malachite is used in addition as a non‐adulterated green pigment. The mobile Raman probe was employed for examining a Tibetan painting of the 18th century from Derge monastery in the Kham area of Sichuan. The highly unique painting could be dated well and its origin accurately located. In fact, the painter's workshop, where the thangka has been executed, is shown in great detail on the painting itself. The painter's palette of this thangka matches the canonical set of pigments used in Tibet for more than 10 centuries. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西藏拉萨大昭寺转经廊壁画颜料的拉曼光谱分析

利用显微激光拉曼光谱仪对大昭寺转经廊壁画颜料进行了分析。结果表明,壁画使用的红、黄、蓝、绿和白色颜料有朱砂、铅丹、甲苯胺红、雌黄、铅铬黄、铁黄、石青、群青、石绿、水胆矾、巴黎绿、菱镁矿、立德粉和方解石。首次发现壁画中使用了合成有机颜料甲苯胺红。检测分析结果提供了准确可靠的资料,有助于清晰认识不同时期壁画绘制和修复所使用颜料成分。     

Pigment analysis of Portuguese portrait miniatures of 17th and 18th centuries by Raman Microscopy and SEM‐EDS

Seventeen Portuguese miniature portraits on copper support from the Évora Museum collection (Portugal) were analyzed in situ and nondestructively by Raman microscopy (RM), SEM‐EDS, and stereomicroscopy. This work constitutes a great breakthrough in the study of miniature paintings from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, since the chemical information known about this unique kind of paintings are still scarce, and in particular, this exclusive collection was never been subjected to any physicochemical study. In this work, each portrait was examined in detail in order to characterize the pigments palette used by the miniaturists. The μ‐Raman analysis, in particular, guaranteed an exceptional visualization and good individual identification of small grains of pigments and other constituents of the pictorial layer. Using this technique, 19 compounds were identified, including bluish black covellite, a pigment rarely found in oil paintings. SEM‐EDS was used as an important complementary technique to confirm the chemical nature of some pigments and to identify shell gold (gold dust) in some portraits. Overall, the pigments identified in this large set of old paintings are broadly consistent with those mentioned in the painting treatises of that time or reported in other more modern bibliographic sources. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Complementary use of the Raman and XRF techniques for non-destructive analysis of historical paint layers

The portable XRF spectrometer has been applied in situ for the non-destructive elemental mapping of the pigment components of the XV c. mural painting and frescos of the Little Christopher chamber in the Main Town Hall of Gdańsk, Poland. For a sufficiently large data collection the principal component analysis (PCA) was applied in order to associate the most intense lines of the elements Ca, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Hg in the XRF spectra with the palette of colors: white, brown, green, blue, red, yellow, and black observed in the painting. This allowed to limit the number of extractions of the micro-samples for the complementary Raman measurements thus assuring the practically non-destructive character of the entire analysis. The reliable identification of the pigment compositions was based on coincidence of the XRF, PCA and the Raman results which confirmed the presence of the chalk, malachite, azurite, red lead, mars red, mars yellow and candle black in the historical paints, except of the carbon-based black pigment being out of the XRF detection range. Different hues of the green paint were specified and the variety of the red and brown ones was ascribed to compositions of the Pb- and Fe-based red pigments (Fe₂O₃ and Pb₃O₄) with addition of the vermilion (HgS) and carbon black, in agreement with literature. The traces of elements: Ba and Sr, Sb and Mo, and also Cd, were ascribed to the impurities of Ca, those of some ochre pigments, and to the soluble Cd salts, respectively.     

An authentication case study: Antonio Palomino versus Vicente Guillo paintings in the vaulted ceiling of the Sant Joan del Mercat church (Valencia,Spain)

In 1695, the Valencian artist Vicente Guillo was engaged in painting the vault of the Sant Joan del Mercat church in Valencia, Spain. After preliminary work was carried out, his contract was cancelled. In 1697, Antonio Palomino, renowned for the publication of his technical treatise entitled El Museo Pictorio y Escala Optica, was finally selected as the painter in charge of decorating the vaulted ceiling of Sant Joan del Mercat. This paper reports an analytical study focused on the characterisation and discrimination of the palette and painting procedures used by Palomino and Guillo in the frescoes of Sant Joan del Mercat. For this purpose, Raman spectroscopy combined with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy–X‐ray microanalysis, voltammetry of microparticles, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry has been employed. The use of gypsum as stucco material for the ground layers contrasts with the recommendations made by Palomino in his treatise about the convenience of using slaked lime‐sand mortars according to traditional fresco recipes. Although lead‐based pigments were not traditionally recommended for frescoes because of their empirically known alterations when subjected to strong alkaline fresco medium, both Guillo and Palomino used them. Palomino, probably supported by his personal experience as a painter, recommended and used Naples yellow, which has been found in a good state of preservation. In contrast, white lead areas found on Guillo's paintings have transformed into lead oxides. Other pigments found in the vaulted ceiling such as smalt, goethite, haematite, azurite and malachite have also undergone substantial changes because of the extreme temperature conditions to which they were subjected in the church. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Raman Characterization of Pigments in Painted Beams and a Wall Painting Discovered in the San Francisco Church in Santiago,Chile

A material characterization of two artworks discovered in the San Francisco Church, Santiago, Chile, was performed using micro-Raman spectroscopy. Structural painted beams and a wall painting that belong to the same time period, between the end of the 17th and 19th centuries, were analyzed. The cross-section samples of both artworks were characterized and animal protein was identified in the ground layer in both cases. The supporting material of the beams was identified as cypress wood, and a rag paper layer was used as a base for the paint layer, which is composed mainly of a white ground layer on which the color was subsequently added; the yellow pigments are orpiment and chrome yellow; the green color probably arises from a mixture of orpiment, red lead, ultramarine blue, and calcite. A complete analysis of the materials using complementary techniques such as microchemistry and optical microscopy indicates that the mural was painted using a mixed technique and that organic and inorganic pigments were used. The identification of the synthetic pigment ultramarine blue in some blue areas of the wall revealed a modification of the wall painting in the 19th century; dark blue areas resulted from a mixture of indigo, palygorskite, and lazurite.     

西藏扎什伦布寺壁画的科学研究

壁画是寺院建筑的重要装饰元素,也是藏传佛教艺术的重要组成部分。扎什伦布寺始建于明正统12年（公元1447年）,作为后藏最大的寺院,寺内保存了大量精美壁画,这些壁画对研究藏传佛教及佛教艺术具有重要意义。扎什伦布寺自建寺起一直为传播佛教文化服务,经历了频繁的大规模修建。为了解扎什伦布寺壁画的制作材料与工艺,为今后壁画的保护及修复提供重要的参考及科学支撑,选取寺内强巴佛殿四层北壁、吉康扎仓南殿西侧的典型壁画,共采集8个样品。采用超景深三维视频显微镜观察壁画的制作结构,显微激光拉曼光谱仪对有机与无机颜料的成分信息进行表征,偏光显微镜根据晶体的光学信息鉴别拉曼光谱相似的颜料颗粒,X射线衍射仪用于测定地仗成分,扫描电镜/能谱仪则对微观数据进行确认和补充。通过分析研究,壁画由地仗层、准备层、颜料层构成。颜料包括矿物及人工合成颜料,其中红色颜料为朱砂与颜料红14,绿色颜料为块铜矾、酞菁绿,黑色颜料为碳黑,黄色颜料为雌黄,蓝色颜料为合成群青。颜料红14与酞菁绿为有机合成颜料,合成群青则为无机合成颜料。块铜矾作为矿物颜料,在欧洲曾用于架上画、壁画、手稿等艺术作品中,但在国内还未曾发现其使用历史,这一发现扩展了对绿色颜料的认识。壁画的地仗层依据藏式壁画制作传统使用了阿嘎土,准备层则由黄土制备。研究结果表明,壁画制作时以阿嘎土打底,刷一层黄土找平壁面,以胶调和颜料绘制于黄土层之上。壁画除了使用一些常见的传统藏式壁画材料,还发现了一些近代人工合成材料,说明扎什伦布寺强巴佛殿四层北壁及吉康扎仓南殿西侧壁画曾经历过重绘或补绘。该研究结果不仅弥补了扎什伦布寺壁画的研究空缺,也为扎什伦布寺修缮历史的补充及完善提供了重要证据。     

Pigment study by Raman microscopy of 23 paintings by the Portuguese artist Henrique Pousão (1859–1884)

Twenty‐three paintings by Henrique Pousão—a 19th century Portuguese painter—belonging to the collection of Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis, Porto, Portugal, were analysed by Raman microscopy. The fine focus of a 100× objective allowed the visualisation and individual identification of small grains. As a result, thirty‐seven compounds, namely, anatase, barium white, basic lead sulfate, brochantite, cadmium red, cadmium yellow, calcium carbonate, carbon‐based black, celadonite, chrome green, chrome orange, chrome yellow, cobalt blue, cochineal lake, copper sulfide, emerald green, iron(III) oxyhydroxide, iron(III) oxide, kaolinite, lead antimonate yellow, lead carbonate, lead white, lead sulfate, madder lake, malachite, Prussian blue, quartz, realgar/pararealgar, red lead, rutile, Scheele's green, strontium yellow, ultramarine blue, vermilion, viridian, zinc white and zinc yellow, were identified. Not all these compounds are pigments; some are extenders, others trace components and others probably products of reactions between pigments. Special attention was given to the Raman characterisation of celadonite, chrome orange, basic lead sulfate and lead antimonate yellow. Complementary techniques were used to confirm the identities of certain pigments and to characterise reference samples. Pousão, whose work has not previously been studied spectroscopically, was found to have used a remarkably wide range of pigments over his painting periods, without showing significant preference for any particular set of pigments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青海热贡地区传统建筑彩画颜料光谱特征分析研究

青海省热贡地区是安多藏区藏式建筑彩画艺术的重要产地,作为热贡艺术的重要组成部分影响甚广。热贡地方建筑彩画不仅是附着建筑栋梁之上的艺术瑰宝,更是一项延续至今的传统技艺,至今仍有大批传统匠人画师从事相关行业。热贡地方建筑彩画有独立的用色方法和颜料制作工艺,对其所用传统颜料进行科学检测是系统研究该地区建筑彩画的基础性工作,在进一步研究热贡地区建筑彩画的制作工艺和艺术特色,传承地方建筑彩画技艺和完善保护政策等方面具有积极意义。通过对同仁市隆务寺夏日仓行宫火供殿所用当地传统建筑彩画颜料的采样,运用X射线荧光光谱、X射线衍射分析、激光显微拉曼光谱分析等多种实验分析方法,对颜料样品进行分析,测定其主要显色物质和成分占比。结果表明,热贡地方建筑彩画所用颜料多为无机颜料;蓝色颜料主要是人造群青;绿色颜料的主要矿物组成为绿土,显色物质为蒙脱石,存在将植物色染料加入当地所产的富镁蒙脱石中混合使用的可能性;红色颜料的主要矿物组成为铁红（赭石类红土）,通过焙烧富铁矿土来人工合成,材料来自于当地吾屯村所产红色赭石类粘土;黄色颜料主要矿物组成为密陀僧、硫磺及其他植物色染料制备而成;黑色颜料为碳黑,符合木炭黑的性状特征;白色颜料主要为生石灰及氧化镁粉,并在其他颜料中广泛使用石灰及氧化镁粉作为调色颜料;推测部分样品中含有包金土及植物色素染料、其他人工合成颜料的可能性。整体来看,热贡地区建筑彩画所用颜料成本价格较低,制取难度不大,来源大多是当地常见的矿土料和动植物染料,传统的制料工艺较简单,颜料多呈现为组分复杂的混合物状态;密陀僧、包金土和群青等颜料多来自于内地及国外,颜料人工合成的历史较早,反映出热贡地区建筑彩画在颜料使用上不仅使用本土材料制备,也广泛使用外来颜料的历史传统,为进一步研究热贡地区建筑彩画领域内汉、藏等多民族文化交往、交流、交融历史提供了良好实证材料。     

Raman identification of green and blue pigments in Etruscan polychromes on architectural terracotta panels

Micro‐Raman measurements were performed on two Etruscan polychromes on architectural terracotta panels now on display at the Villa Giulia Etruscan Museum in Rome. These painted panels, dated from 530 to 520 B .C ., are of particular interest because of the unusual presence of green and blue layers. Etruscans in the Archaic Age indeed mainly used white, red, and black colours for painted terracotta panels. Raman spectra allowed the analytical identification of green (malachite) and blue (Egyptian blue) pigments employed by Etruscans for this kind of artistic production. This finding provides evidence for a larger use of malachite and Egyptian blue, previously well documented only in Etruscan wall paintings. The use of different pigments to obtain different colour tones has been also observed. Egyptian blue is indeed mixed with malachite to obtain different green tones, and a black pigment seems to have been applied over the Egyptian blue layer to obtain a dark blue tone. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthetic organic pigments in contemporary Balinese painting: a Raman microscopy study

The colour palette from two 20th century and one 21st century Indonesian paintings from the island of Bali was determined by Raman microscopy. There is very little information concerning the artistic techniques from this region of the world and the influences in materials introduced by western artists. The most interesting finding of our study was the increasing substitution of natural pigments by modern synthetic organic pigments. The findings were also compared with samples of representative pigments commonly used by Bali artists, donated by a renowned Balinese painter. Raman microscopy, combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, high‐performance liquid chromatography and μ‐EDXRF, was able to separate the different components on several colours, and to identify both synthetic organic pigments and inorganic components. Three azo pigments from the diarylide subclass, PY 83, PY 55 and PO 16, were identified on the yellow, brown, red and orange colours. A copper phthalocyanine blue PB 15:x and a basic dye BB 26 were responsible for the blue colours, the former admixed with ultramarine blue. Goethite was sometimes introduced to create the green colour. Two other basic dyes, BY2 and PG 4, were the main chromophores of the yellow and green samples of local pigments. The inorganic pigments comprised bone white, bone black, carbon‐based black pigment, haematite, goethite, vermilion, ultramarine blue and anatase. Finally, the ground layer of all the paintings was identified as rice starch, with a double function of a white pigment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Raman spectroscopy of synthetic organic pigments used in 20th century works of art

Raman microscopy allows a non‐destructive characterisation of inorganic and organic painting materials such as pigments and organic dyestuffs. The objectives of this study are the more recent organic pigments typically present in paintings and other art works from the 20th century. More than 20 organic synthetic pigments from different chemical classes could be identified by Raman spectroscopy using different excitation wavelengths (457.9, 476.5, 487.9, 514.5, 632.8, and 1064 nm). To evaluate the performance for real paint samples, varying paint mixtures of the Hansa Yellow pigment PY 3 and the binding medium Mowilith, a polyvinyl acetate (PVAC) compound, were characterised; PY 3 was determined at a 1 wt% level in the binder. In addition, commercial tube paints containing the quinacridone violet PV 19 were studied. The pigment was clearly identified in all of these more complex oil and acrylic paints. Finally, alizarin (PR 83) and a green copper phthalocyanine pigment (PG 7) could unambiguously be identified by Raman microscopy in the painting ‘Woman with mandolin in yellow and red’ of Max Beckmann dating 1950. The discovery of a red naphthol AS pigment by Raman spectroscopy in a sample from the ‘Three field workers’ by Georg Baselitz (1964/1965) demonstrated that in some cases complementary chromatographic methods are needed for a comprehensive identification of the organic pigments. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Portable XRF study of pigments applied in Juan Hispalense’s 15th century panel painting

Several medieval paintings and polychrome sculptures have been analysed in the frame of a collaboration between the Fine Arts Museum of Seville and the National Centre of Accelerators, dedicated to a non‐destructive study of artworks that belong to the wide museum’s collection. Among the oldest artworks in the collection is the panel painting Archangel St. Michael attributed to Juan Hispalense, one of the first painters in the 15th‐century Seville known by name. The panel was analysed by a portable X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) to get more information about the pigments applied and to identify possible later interventions. The results showed that the pigments were those commonly used in that period. Lead white was found in the preparation of the painting and in colour layers. For yellow colour, yellow ochre was used, while for the red one, the painter usually mixed red earth and vermillion. Blue pigment is azurite, while the copper‐based green one could not be determined more specifically by XRF. Brown colour is made with yellow ochre and organic black or, in some cases, umbra. Black pigment is probably bone or ivory black. Many decorative parts of the panel are gilded, which were confirmed by Au peaks. Later interventions were carried out on the base of Ti–Zn white mixed with earth pigments, while for green areas such as Archangel's wings also chrome green was applied. The research is part of a larger study which is still going on, whose aim is to gain more knowledge about the 15th‐ and 16th‐century Spanish painting and polychromy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

唐代苏同家族墓天王俑彩绘的光谱分析

天王俑是中原地区的达官贵人墓葬的镇墓俑,是唐墓葬冥器中重要的一种神煞俑。为探究天王俑彩绘颜料的组成元素以及彩绘工艺,使用X射线荧光光谱分析了陕西省咸阳市渭城区苏同家族墓KTJ-2019-019M2、 KTJ-2019-019M3坑出土的天王俑彩绘区域的元素组成。分析结果表明陶俑表面金色贴片主要为金箔(Au);红色颜料的组成元素则是Hg、 S以及少量的Pb、 P;蓝色颜料和绿色颜料的组成元素均为Cu,白色颜料的组成元素为P、 S、 Pb。使用拉曼光谱对彩绘颜料层的鉴定物相,使用拉曼光谱分析技术对彩绘层分析结果确定了红色颜料的主要组成物相为朱砂(HgS)和铅丹(Pb₃O₄)的混合颜料;蓝色颜料的主要组成物相为石青;绿色颜料的主要组成物相为石绿;白色颜料的组成物相可能为铅白。进一步使用XRF面扫描技术分析了天王俑的彩绘工艺,解析金、红、蓝、绿色区域的组成元素位置,发现陶块样品中的M₂-1金色陶块、 M₃-1白色陶块、 M₃-2红色陶块、 M₃-3蓝色陶块、 M<...     

Study of two large-dimension Murillo's paintings by means of macro X-ray fluorescence imaging,point X-ray fluorescence analysis,and stratigraphic studies

During the recent restoration of two large-dimension paintings by Murillo, entitled “Miracle of the loaves and fishes” and “Moses and the water from the rock of Horeb,” several studies about the materials employed for their execution were carried out. Macro X-ray fluorescence scanning technique was performed on both works complemented by point X-ray fluorescence and stratigraphic analyses, in order to characterize the different components of the paintings (i.e., ground layer, pigments, and binders). The results allowed us to better elucidate Murillo painting technique and his creative process. Ground layer was prepared in the usual fashion of the artist, using earths, calcium carbonate, iron oxide pigments, and white lead. The polichromy is composed of lead white mixed with various pigments, depending on the colour tone to be obtained in the pictorial composition: Red and yellow ochres, vermilion, azurite, smalt, and lead-tin yellow were the main pigments identified during our study. Finally, the presence of previous conservation treatments was evidenced by detecting pigments (zinc white, Prussian blue, etc.) not coeval with the artist palette.     

广元千佛崖石窟石刻彩妆颜料的分析

四川省广元千佛崖石窟是四川境内最大的石窟寺和摩崖造像群,承载着古代社会的历史信息,对研究当时的政治、文化和社会生活意义重大.千佛崖石窟在自然环境因素的长期作用下,目前受到多种严重病害的侵蚀,亟待保护.为了获取石刻彩妆的成分与工艺信息以支撑彩妆的保护工作,应用X射线衍射分析、剖面显微分析、扫描电镜能谱分析、激光拉曼光谱分...     

北京故宫养心殿燕喜堂及西围房建筑彩画的分析研究——一种检测颜料和胶结物的集成检测方法

北京故宫是现存规模最大、保存最完整的木结构古建筑群。2015年底,故宫养心殿启动研究性保护修缮工程,燕喜堂是养心殿的后殿西耳房,是此次维修的重点对象之一。彩画是古建筑的重要组成部分,不仅具有美化装饰的作用,更有对木材的防腐保护功能。为了能更好地辅助燕喜堂及西围房建筑彩画的保护与修复,需要对彩画原始材料以及工艺进行检测研究。使用一套集成检测方法：包括样品横截面分析、扫描电子显微镜背散射及能谱技术、拉曼光谱技术、荧光染色法、酶联免疫法、免疫荧光法以及热裂解气相色谱法,分析了故宫养心殿燕喜堂及西围房建筑彩画样品的颜料、沥粉、胶结材料的成分,以及结构关系。结果表明燕喜堂西围房使用的颜料有朱砂、铁红、群青、石青、石绿以及副氯铜矿型铜绿;沥粉的无机组成为石英、滑石、白垩或白云石。胶结材料检测结果发现彩画地仗层中普遍掺加了桐油,颜料层中掺加了动物胶。梁上彩画除了表面图案,地仗层底部还有一层朱砂颜料,同时地仗层内部也不规则地发现朱砂颜料。此外,表层红色颜料通常由两层颜料组成,内层的显色成分是铁红和朱砂,颜料颗粒直径1 μm左右,外层颜料由朱砂组成,颜料颗粒大小不一,直径1～30 μm范围内。上述检测结果不仅可以部分看出燕喜堂及西围房建筑彩画的工艺特征,也表明该集成检测方法可行、所需样品量少,是一种经济实用的彩画文物检测方法。     

On the discovery of an unusual luminescent pigment in Van Gogh’s painting “Les bretonnes et le pardon de pont Aven”

Spectrally and lifetime-resolved UV-induced luminescence imaging have been applied to the in situ analysis of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting on paper “Les bretonnes et le pardon de pont Aven”. The in situ investigation revealed the presence of an unusual microsecond green emission from the white painted areas of the watercolour, and this long-lived emission has not been reported in modern paintings by other authors. In order to attribute and suggest an identification of the luminescent pigment, our analysis was integrated with further measurements on commercially available modern white pigments (zinc white, Lithopone white, Blanc Fixe, zinc sulphide, and copper-doped zinc sulphide) and with an in-depth study of the synthesis processes of zinc-based pigments available at the end of the 19th century. Analysis suggested an attribution of the unusual emission from the Van Gogh painting to a particular variety of zinc sulphide pigment, characterized by the presence of copper impurities which were unintentionally introduced in the crystal matrix during its production. The present study is the first application of lifetime imaging for the mapping of long-lived luminescence from the semi-conductor pigment.     

Joaquin Sorolla's pigment characterisation of the paintings ‘Vision of Spain’ by means of EDXRF portable system

In this work, portable energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry was employed to the characterisation of the palette used by the Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) in the paintings ‘Vision of Spain’, a set of 14 oils on canvas painted by Sorolla between 1911 and 1919 by order of Mr Archer Huntington to decorate the library of the Hispanic Society of America (HSA) in New York. The analyses, sponsored by BANCAJA and provided by the HSA, were carried out in situ, prior to the cleaning and restoration process, while the paintings hanging on the walls of the library of the HSA. The results revealed that the paintings were made over different priming layers containing, respectively, lead white, zinc and barium compounds, lead white mixed with zinc white or lead white mixed with zinc and barium compounds. The EDXRF analyses of coloured zones identified up to 29 inorganic pigments and, in some cases, the probable use of organic pigments. Sorolla used traditional pigments as earth pigments, lead white, vermillion, etc., and modern pigments as cadmium yellow, zinc white, cobalt‐based blue, chromium‐based green, manganese‐based violet, etc. These results provide valuable information about the Sorolla's palette during the last stage of his life. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shades of green in 15th century paintings: combined microanalysis of the materials using synchrotron radiation XRD, FTIR and XRF

A representative selection of green paintings from fifteenth century Catalonia and the Crown of Aragon are analyzed by a combination of synchrotron radiation microanalytical techniques including FTIR, XRD, and XRF. The green pigments themselves are found to be a mixture of copper acetates/basic copper acetates and basic copper chlorides. Nevertheless, a broader range of green shades were obtained by mixing the green pigment with yellow, white, and blue pigments and applied forming a sequence of micrometric layers. Besides the nature of the pigments themselves, degradation and reaction products, such as carboxylates, formates and oxalates were also identified. Some of the copper based compounds, such as the basic copper chloride, may be either part of the original pigment or a weathering product. The high resolution, high brilliance, and small footprint of synchrotron radiation proved to be essential for the analysis of those submillimetric paint layers made of a large variety of compounds heterogeneous in nature and distribution and present in extremely low concentrations.