1. Lorenzo Lotto's painting materials: an integrated diagnostic approach
- Author
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Pietro Baraldi, Gianluca Poldi, Susanna Marras, Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa, Michela Berzioli, Giulio Pojana, Maria Letizia Amadori, Antonella Casoli, and Sara Barcelli
- Subjects
Pigments ,Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy ,Analytical chemistry ,Mineralogy ,HPLC-HRT oF-MS ,02 engineering and technology ,Mass spectrometry ,01 natural sciences ,ED-XRF ,Analytical Chemistry ,μ-FTIR-ATR spectroscopy ,Spectroscopy ,Instrumentation ,Painting technique ,Organic binders ,Vis-RS ,µ-FTIR-ATR spectroscopy ,Raman spectroscopy ,ESEM-EDX ,GC-MS ,Settore CHIM/12 - Chimica dell'Ambiente e dei Beni Culturali ,Painting ,Chemistry ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Limiting ,Settore L-ART/04 - Museologia e Critica Artistica e del Restauro ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Reflectivity ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,0104 chemical sciences ,mu-FTIR-ATR spectroscopy ,ESEM/EDX ,HPLC-HRToF-MS ,Palette (painting) ,Esem edx ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
This paper presents the results of a comprehensive diagnostic investigation carried out on five paintings (three wood panels and two paintings on canvas) by Lorenzo Lotto, one of the most significant artists of the Italian Renaissance in the first half of 16th century. The paintings considered belong to 1508-1522 period, corresponding to the most significant years of Lotto's evolution. A wide array of non-invasive (reflectance spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence) and micro-invasive analytical techniques (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy, micro-FTIR spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and mass spectrometry) were applied in order to provide a large set of significant data, limiting as much as possible the sampling. This study has proved that Lotto's painting palette was typical of Venetian practice of that period, but some significant peculiarities emerged: the use of two kinds of red lakes, the addition of calcium carbonate and colourless powdered glass, the latter frequently found in pictorial and ground layers. Moreover, the integrated investigation showed that Lotto's technique was sometimes characterized by the use of coloured priming and multi-layer sequences with complex mixtures. Chromatographic analyses allowed to identify in all specimens: azelaic, palmitic and stearic acids, generally referring to the presence of drying oils. The extension of additional non-invasive examination to about 50 paintings by the same author, spanning from 1505 to around 1556, helped to verify the evolution in the use of some pigments, such as the yellow ones, where Pb-Sb yellow was used alongside Pb-Sn yellow.
- Published
- 2016