Reviving degraded colors of yellow flowers in 17th century still life paintings with macro- and microscale chemical imaging
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Over time, artist pigments are prone to degradation, which can decrease the readability of the artwork or notably change the artist's intention. In this article, the visual implication of secondary degradation products in a degraded yellow rose in a still life painting by A. Mignon is discussed as a case study. A multimodal combination of chemical and optical imaging techniques, including noninvasive macroscopic x-ray powder diffraction (MA-XRPD) and macroscopic x-ray fluorescence imaging, allowed us to gain a 3D understanding of the transformation of the original intended appearance of the rose into its current degraded state. MA-XRPD enabled us to precisely correlate in situ formed products with what is optically visible on the surface and demonstrated that the precipitated lead arsenates and arsenolite from the yellow pigment orpiment and the light-induced fading of an organic yellow lake irreversibly changed the artist's intentional light-shadow modeling.
Source: Science Advances
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology (arts and humanities)
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Awards: A combined IR, NIR and MA-XRF material inspection method, 3D understanding of degradation products in paintings, G2573442069, The DUBBLE Beam Lines at the ESRF: Extremely brilliant X-rays for revealing the structure and function of atoms, molecules and materials, Fusing microscopic and nanoscopic 3D data with macroscopic 2D mapping information for a better understanding of paint degradation phenomena in 17th. century masterpieces, G457067979, G516729603, G585716984, G6790609419
OpenAlex ID: W4282935403