An XRF, XRD, FTIR, FT RAMAN, digital radiography and UV photography study of some classical pigments, primers and binders used in panel painting

摘要

In order to evidence to which extent noninvasive/less invasive analytical techniques could be used for a complete characterization of panel painting, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Raman (FT-Raman) Spectroscopy, Digital Radiography (DR) and UV Photography (UVP) were used to contactless investigate a panel model painting realized following traditional XVIII-th and XIX-th century techniques. Consequently, a chalk primer lime tree panel was painted with tempera paints based on mineral pigments yellow mica (phlogopite), ultramarine, lead white, led minium, ochre and cinnabar as well as with a 20 um golden foil while the mineralogical composition of each pigment was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRF and FT-Raman spectroscopy and, at a lesser extent, DR gave a more com- plete information regarding the elemental composition of the majority of pigments but the unequivocal identifying was done by XRD, in order to furnish the mineralogical composition of the pigments. The Digital Radiography allowed a better discrimination of the pigments containing high atomic number elements while FT-IR spectroscopy showed to be useful in identification of the organic egg yolk binder, he damar var- nish and also of the chalk primer starting from the vibrational spectrum of different moieties.