This case study illustrates the analytical characterization of 12 academic nude paintings by Veloso Salgado, made between 1883 and 1893. The study was done with in situ methods (infrared reflectography and EDXRF) and benchtop equipment (Raman and FTIR microscopes and SEM-EDS). Infrared reflectography revealed underdrawings, painting style, execution method and retouched/restored areas. Analytical techniques all...
Eight complementary techniques were successfully applied to study a pair of very alike eighteenth-century colored wax figurines belonging to the Museu Nacional Machado de Castro, Coimbra (Portugal): examination under visible and ultraviolet light, X-ray radiography (XRR), neutron radiography and tomography (NR and NT), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energ...
White spots on smoke rings by Bruce Nauman: microanalytical study of a contemporary artwork
This case study reveals the analytical characterisation carried out on ‘D’Aprés Cormon’ (1891) by Veloso Salgado, a copy of ‘Caïn’ (1880) by Fernando Cormon, belonging nowadays to Musée d’Orsay. Infrared Reflectography made in situ revealed underdrawing grid that was used to transpose the original painting to a smaller scale, pictorial style, execution method and retouched/restored areas. In situ EDXRF analysis...
This work regards the study of painting techniques in Portuguese workshops of the 15th and early 16th centuries, specifically addressing the methodology used on the preparation of ground layers. The influence of Flemish painting in Portugal is evident in stylistic and iconographic themes of that period. As regards the painting materials, we confirmed that this influence also extended to the ground layer techniq...
The purpose of this work is to characterize Portuguese painting ground layers from the 15th and 16th centuries (1450–1600), focusing particularly on the Coimbra, Lisbon, and Viseu workshops. Calcium sulfate, used regularly in these layers is common in the Iberian Peninsula as a natural resource. Its use is now confirmed, as already studied in Spanish paintings, and it was prepared generally by addition of anima...
Greg´orio Lopes is one of the most famous Portuguese painters of the 15th–16th centuries. This work is a contribution to the study of his painting technique, specifically addressing the methodology used in the preparation of ground layers, which has never been carried out previously with this multianalytical method. For this purpose characterization of the ground layers of a selection of his paintings was carri...
The early 17th century mural paintings set from the low-choir of the extinct Dominican Convent of Nossa Senhora da Saudac¸~ao in the town of Montemor-onovo were analyzed by a setup comprising visible spectra- colorimetry and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEMEDS) complemented with optical microscopy (OM), micro X-ray diffraction, micro FTIR, and micro Raman spect...