Artists' Pigments Reconsidered: Does Modern Science Match the Historical Context?

Krekel, Christoph; Haller, Ursula; Burmester, Andreas

doi:10.1179/sic.2006.51.supplement-2.244

Cited by 4 publications

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“…However, although the Rammelsberg in Goslar was apparently the largest production site for vitriol in Germany in the sixteenth century (e.g. in 1577, 250 tons were produced), from German pharmacy price lists (taxae) we know of other German mining sites of which the chemical composition of the vitriol is unknown [7].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main inorganic component of iron gall ink is vitriol, an iron sulphate (FeSO 4 ) with varying impurities of various metal sulphates based on Cu, Mn, Zn, Al, K or Mg. The proportion of these components varies depending on the mining site and extraction method of the vitriol used [2,6,7]. For instance, while vitriolum goslarensis, originating from Goslar (Germany), has a very high amount of ZnSO 4 (11%), vitriolum romanum does not contain Zn [6] (p. 130).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visualising iron gall ink underdrawings in sixteenth century paintings in-situ by micro-XRF scanning (MA-XRF) and LED-excited IRR (LEDE-IRR)

2022

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Until today, iron gall ink is classified as an exceptional underdrawing material for paintings. Its study and definite identification is usually based on invasive analysis. This article presents a new non-destructive approach using micro-X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF), LED-excited IRR (LEDE-IRR) based on a narrow wavelength-range of infrared radiation (IR) for illumination and stereomicroscopy for studying and visualising iron gall ink underdrawings. To assess possibilities and limits of these analytical techniques, the approach was tested on panel paintings by Hans Holbein the Elder and Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano. Results are compared to invasive examinations on cross-sections using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX). The holistic setup could successfully visualise iron gall ink underdrawings, allowing to harness the formerly invisible underdrawing lines for interdisciplinary studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualising iron gall ink underdrawings in sixteenth century paintings in-situ by micro-XRF scanning (MA-XRF) and LED-excited IRR (LEDE-IRR)

2022

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“…They were most probably sold under the names mountain green (berggrün, vert de montaigne, etc.) or verdeazurro (vert d'azur) [54], this last name being especially appropriate for the rather blue-green copper sulphates reported here. Artists would not, of course, have been able to distinguish the copper sulphates from pigments composed mainly of malachite, or of other complex mixtures of green copper minerals such as those that have been found in Italian paintings [55].…”

Section: Green Mineral Copper Sulphate Pigmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights into the materials of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Netherlandish paintings in the National Gallery, London

Spring

2017

Herit Sci

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The long-term programme of technical examination conducted at the National Gallery, London, during cataloguing of the Netherlandish School paintings surveyed the materials and techniques of a wide range of artists, including not only Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, Bosch, Bruegel, Massys and Gossaert but also lesser known painters from the same period. The research presented in this article brings together both published and unpublished results from this project, strengthening the trends that had been emerging and bringing new insights into the development of artists' materials over this period. A notable finding during the programme was the discovery of two paint additives-colourless powdered glass and zinc sulphate (white vitriol)-probably added as driers. The new quantitative analyses of the glass composition presented here add to those already published, and reveal that towards the end of the fifteenth century high lime-low alkali glass begins to be used. This observation holds the potential to contribute to questions about the dating of Netherlandish paintings. A smaller number of occurrences of zinc sulphate were identified suggesting that it was less common than glass as an additive, but it is nevertheless significant since it was used by a key figure in the history of oil painting, Jan van Eyck, and occasionally, where present in excess, has caused conservation problems such as drying defects in the paint. Occurrences of the unusual pigments vivianite and fluorite were identified in a few sixteenth-century works. The main changes encountered during the period, however, were the introduction of the blue pigment smalt, its instability having consequences for the current appearance of the paintings, and of a green copper mineral pigment composed of mainly copper sulphate. The latter has proved to be far more common than had been realised in the past.

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Analytical approaches for the characterization of early synthetic organic pigments for artists’ paints

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et al. 2021

Microchemical Journal

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Artists' Pigments Reconsidered: Does Modern Science Match the Historical Context?

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Visualising iron gall ink underdrawings in sixteenth century paintings in-situ by micro-XRF scanning (MA-XRF) and LED-excited IRR (LEDE-IRR)

Visualising iron gall ink underdrawings in sixteenth century paintings in-situ by micro-XRF scanning (MA-XRF) and LED-excited IRR (LEDE-IRR)

New insights into the materials of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Netherlandish paintings in the National Gallery, London

Analytical approaches for the characterization of early synthetic organic pigments for artists’ paints

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