In-situ technical study of modern paintings - Part 2: Imaging and spectroscopic analysis of zinc white in paintings from 1889 to 1940 by Alessandro Milesi (1856-1945).
We present a multi-analytical in situ non-invasive study of a series of emblematic paintings by Alessandro Milesi (1856-1945) from the collection of the International Gallery of Modern Art Ca' Pesaro in Venice. Eight paintings dated from 1897 to 1910 were studied with imaging and spectroscopic techniques. White pigments were characterized by a combination of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy which traced the presence of zinc-based pigments in Milesi's paintings, Raman Spectroscopy, Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) Spectroscopy and Time-resolved Luminescence Imaging. Time-resolved analysis of luminescence emissions revealed the nanosecond emission from organic compounds and the slower emission from the luminescent inorganic pigment Zinc Oxide that varied between 1.1 and 1.6 microseconds. In this work, data regarding the distribution of luminescent pigments was acquired with a time-gated imaging detector. Furthermore, differences in emission decay kinetics recorded from different paintings can be ascribed to different paint formulations or origins of the Zinc white in paint.
20th century artists’ oil paints: The case of the Olii by Lucio Fontana
Abstract During the 20th century, many innovative binders have been rapidly introduced to the art world and soon became popular as artists’ paints and pictorial media. However, despite the advantages that new synthetic materials presented, oil paints have never been entirely substituted. Indeed, this paper focuses on the results provided by the scientific analysis of a group works from the oeuvre of Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), all of which created between 1960 and 1964 using oil-based media, and aims to illustrate how oils contained in the pictorial media have influenced these works’ respective ageing and degradation processes. Despite the apparent coherence in the behaviour of many of Fontana's creations, some artworks revealed discrepancies in terms of the physical and mechanical behaviour of the pictorial films and in alterations resulting from degradation processes. Samples taken from case studies belonging to the Olii and Fine di Dio series were analysed using optical microscopy, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) in order to study and identify the materials employed by the artist and the products of their degradation processes. These analyses gave unexpected but useful results (such as the presence of non-drying or slow-drying oils in the paint formulations) which not only provided us with new insight into the nature of the constituent materials, but also facilitated the elaboration of correct conservation measures and suitable restoration interventions.
Imaging Analytical Studies of Lead Soaps Aggregating in Preprimed Canvas Used by the Hudson River Painter F.E. Church
Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, July 31--August 4, 2005