XRF and optical microscopy analysis of the painting layer of an early 19th century icon

摘要

FTIR, XRF, UV photography and optical microscopy were used to investigate the painting layer as well as the wooden support of wooden icon representing the Jesus Christ Judge.FT-IR evidenced a protein binder, most probable egg yolk used in tempera technique while both FT-IR and XRF confirmed the presence of calcium sulphate, a common component of gypsum primers.XRF attested the presence of Ca, Cu, Zn, Ti, Sr, As, Hg and Pb as major components of pigments as well as of the Al and Si, the last ones suggesting the use of synthetic ultramarine.All these observations allowed to consider the probable age of the icon as the early nineteenth century, as well as to evidence the ulterior interventions.