Neutron activation autoradiography and scanning macro-XRF of Rembrandt van Rijn’s Susanna and the Elders (Gemäldegalerie Berlin): a comparison of two methods for imaging of historical paintings with elemental contrast

Imaging methods with elemental contrast are of great value for the investigation of historical paintings, as they allow for study of sub-surface layers that provide insight into a painting’s creation process. Two of the most important methods are neutron activation autoradiography (NAAR) and scannin...

Celý popis

Uloženo v:
Podrobná bibliografie
Vydáno v:Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Ročník 119; číslo 3; s. 795 - 805
Hlavní autoři: Alfeld, Matthias, Laurenze-Landsberg, Claudia, Denker, Andrea, Janssens, Koen, Noble, Petria
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2015
Témata:
Activation
Autoradiography
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Copper
Imaging
Invited Paper
Lead (metal)
Machines
Manganese
Manufacturing
Nanotechnology
Optical and Electronic Materials
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Pigments
Processes
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thin Films
Lead White
Distribution Image
Paint Layer
Orpiment
Lateral Resolution
ISSN:0947-8396, 1432-0630
On-line přístup:Získat plný text
Tagy: Přidat tag
Žádné tagy, Buďte první, kdo vytvoří štítek k tomuto záznamu!
Popis
Shrnutí:Imaging methods with elemental contrast are of great value for the investigation of historical paintings, as they allow for study of sub-surface layers that provide insight into a painting’s creation process. Two of the most important methods are neutron activation autoradiography (NAAR) and scanning macro-XRF (MA-XRF). Given the differences between these methods in the fundamental physical phenomena exploited, a theoretical comparison of their capabilities is difficult and until now a critical comparison of their use on the same painting is missing. In this paper, we present a study of Rembrandt van Rijn’s painting Susanna and the Elders from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin employing both techniques. The painting features a considerable number of overpainted features and a wide range of pigments with different elemental tracers, including earth pigments (Mn/Fe), Azurite (Cu), lead white (Pb), vermilion (Hg) and smalt (Co, As). MA-XRF can detect all elements above Si ( Z  = 14), suffers from few spectral overlaps and can be performed in a few tens of hours in situ, i.e. in a museum. NAAR requires the stay of the painting at a research facility for several weeks, and inter-element interferences can be difficult to resolve. Also, only a limited number of elements contribute to the acquired autoradiographs, most notably Mn, Cu, As, Co, Hg and P. However, NAAR provides a higher lateral resolution and is less hindered by absorption in covering layers, which makes it the only method capable of visualizing P in lower paint layers.
Bibliografie:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0947-8396
1432-0630
DOI:10.1007/s00339-015-9081-8