'A non-invasive XRF study supported by multivariate statistical analysis and reflectance FTIR to assess the composition of modern painting materials'

Francesca Rossi, Aviva Burnstock, Klaas Jan van den Berg, Costanza Miliani, Brunetto Giovanni Brunetti, Antonio Sgamellotti

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

65 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The palette used in two paintings by Paul Cézanne, L’étang des sœurs dated c. 1875 and La route tournante, made in the last year of his life (1902), were analyzed using non-invasive spectroscopic methods. X-ray fluorescence combined with principal components analysis (PCA) and supported by reflectance near- and mid-FTIR was shown to be a powerful analytical tool to draw conclusions about the chemical identification of inorganic materials in paintings. Pigments and fillers such us Thénard's blue, Prussian blue, red ochre, kaolin, vermilion, lead white, zinc white and barium sulphate, were identified. Evidence for three different pigments, namely a copper arsenite pigment, chrome green (a mixture of chrome yellow and Prussian blue) and viridian has been obtained by the PCA analysis of elemental compositions of green hues.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1655-1662
JournalSpectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Volume71
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - 2009

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