Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T01:14:56.813Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pigment Degradation in Oil Paint Induced by Indoor Climate: Comparison of Visual and Computational Backscattered Electron Images

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2016

Katrien Keune ,
Rick P. Kramer ,
Zara Huijbregts ,
Henk L. Schellen ,
Marc H.L. Stappers  and
Margriet H. van Eikema Hommes
Katrien Keune*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Materials Science, Materials in Art and Archaeology, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands Conservation and Restoration, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, PO BOX 74888, 1070 DN Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rick P. Kramer
Affiliation:
Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Zara Huijbregts
Affiliation:
Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Henk L. Schellen
Affiliation:
Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Marc H.L. Stappers
Affiliation:
Cultural Heritage Agency of The Netherlands, Smallepad 5, 3811 MG Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Margriet H. van Eikema Hommes
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Materials Science, Materials in Art and Archaeology, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency of The Netherlands, Hobbemastraat 22, 1071 ZC Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author. [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

For the first time the degradation of lead white pigment in mature oil paint has been used as an internal marker for the degree of saponification and hence chemical degradation of oil paint. Computational image analysis of the backscattered electron images quantified the degree of the intact lead white pigment versus the nonpigmented and lead-rich areas (degraded lead white) in the paint layers. This new methodology was applied to a series of paint samples taken from four painted wall hangings (dated 1778), which makes it possible to study the influence of indoor climate on chemical degradation of aged oil paintings. The visual interpretation and computational image analysis of the backscattered electron images revealed clear trends. The highest degree of lead white degradation in the room was found in samples from the north wall close to the windows, whereas degradation diminished further away from the window. Lead white from the south wall was less degraded, but showed a similar trend as in the paintings on the north wall. These results imply a strong relationship between chemical degradation of paint and location of the paint in the room.

Keywords

lead soapindoor climatepigment degradationcomputational image analysisscanning electron microscopy
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 448 - 457
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ankersmit, B. (2009). Klimaatwerk: Richtlijnen voor het museale binnenklimaat. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.Google Scholar
Bakker, P. & van Eikema Hommes, M. (2015). The coarse painter and his position in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch decorative painting. In Technology & practice: studying 18th-century paintings and works of art on paper, Evans, H. & Muir, K. (Eds.), pp. 70--82. Postprints of the conference Centre for Art Technological Studies and Conservation (CATS), Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Boon, J.J., Van der Weerd, J., Keune, K., Noble, P. & Wadum, J. (2002). Mechanical and chemical changes in old master paintings: Dissolution, metal soap formation and remineralization processes in lead pigmented ground/intermediate paint layers of 17th century paintings. In ICOM-CC Preprints of the 13th Triennial Meeting, Vontobel, R. (Ed.), vol. 1. London: James and James.Google Scholar
Cotte, M., Checroun, E., Susini, J., Dumas, P., Tchoreloff, P., Besnard, M. & Walter, P. (2006). Kinetics of oil saponification by lead salts in ancient preparations of pharmaceutical lead plasters and painting lead mediums. Talanta 70, 1136–1142.Google Scholar
Higgitt, C., Spring, M. & Saunders, D. (2003). Pigment-medium interactions in oil paint films containing red lead or lead-tin yellow. Natl Gallery Tech Bull 24, 75–96.Google Scholar
Keune, K. & Boon, J.J. (2007). Analytical imaging studies of paint cross-sections illustrate the oil paint defect of lead soap aggregate formation. Stud Conserv 52, 161–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keune, K., Ferreira, E. & Boon, J.J. (2005). Characterisation and localisation of the oil binding medium in paint cross-sections using imaging secondary ion mass spectrometry. In ICOM Committee for Conservation, 14th Triennial Meeting, The Hague, September 12–16, 2005 (Preprints), Verger, I. (Ed.), vol. II, pp. 796–802. London: James and James.Google Scholar
Keune, K., Van Loon, A. & Boon, J.J. (2011). SEM backscattered-electron images of paint cross-sections as information source for the presence of the lead white pigment and lead-related degradation and migration phenomena in oil paintings. Microsc Microanal 17, 696–701.Google Scholar
Koldeweij, E.F. (2011). Het Hofkeshuis, Grotestraat 62 te Almelo. De achterkamer met het geschilderde behangsel. Nadere waardestelling. Amersfoort: Aandachtspunten voor restauratie.Google Scholar
Noble, P. & Van Loon, A. (2010). Evaporation of fatty acids and formation of whitish deposits on the inside of the glass/microclimate boxes: A case study in the Mauritshuis. In The EU Project FP6: PROPAINT: Improved Protection of Paintings During Exhibition, Storage and Transit, Final Activity Report, Dahlin, E. (Ed.), pp. 154–169. Norway: NILU.Google Scholar
Noble, P., Van Loon, A. & Boon, J.J. (2008). Selective darkening of ground layers associated with the wood grain in 17th-century panel paintings. In Preparation for Painting: The Artist’s Choice and its Consequences, Townsend, J., Doherty, T., Heydenreich, G. & Ridge, J. (Eds.), pp. 68–78. London: Archetype Publications.Google Scholar
Robinet, L. & Corbeil, M.C. (2003). The characterization of metal soaps. Stud Conserv 48, 23–40.Google Scholar