Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-5948-3145
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Steven Murphy
Abstract
Utilizing synchrotron radiation, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscopy enables researchers to deduce the elemental composition of paint pigments with a higher sensitivity and resolution than that of lab-based XRF instruments. With this information, art historians can date paintings by examining the elemental makeup of paint pigments and the time periods in which they were used. One painting, Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, has been duplicated by Pieter Brueghel the Younger and other artists, leading to confusion over which artworks are Brueghel masterpieces or copies by other artists. Art historian Maurizio Seracini, retaining a painting that could be assigned to Brueghel, confirmed the artwork was a reproduction not created by Brueghel. With radiocarbon dating, Dr. Seracini discovered that the painting was created between 1679 and 1939, after Brueghel’s death in 1638. Dr. Seracini also employed X- ray imaging to differentiate between the painting’s visible and lower layers. This technique uncovered a seated woman within the artwork’s lower layers, indicating that the artist has painted over the original artwork. Substantiating Dr. Seracini’s findings, the sub-µm spatial resolution of Brookhaven National Laboratory’s (BNL’s) Submicron Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy (SRX) beamline was used to conduct an XRF microscopy analysis on a paint fragment from the artwork. The software PyXRF was used to identify elements based on emission spectra, contributing to the discovery of titanium within the painting. The presence of titanium, an element incorporated into paint pigments starting in 1921, indicates that the artwork may be more modern than previously thought. These results illustrate the applicability of synchrotron radiation in characterizing the physical and chemical properties of cultural heritage artifacts, supporting historians in their quests to discover the stories behind these objects.
Recommended Citation
Stirpe, S. A., & Thieme, J. (2024). X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of Historic Art Paint Pigments. Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal, 9(1). Retrieved from https://orb.binghamton.edu/alpenglowjournal/vol9/iss1/7
