Applied Physics A

, Volume 121, Issue 3, pp 779–788 | Cite as

Blanching of paint and varnish layers in easel paintings: contribution to the understanding of the alteration

  • Anaïs Genty-Vincent
  • Myriam Eveno
  • Witold Nowik
  • Gilles Bastian
  • Elisabeth Ravaud
  • Isabelle Cabillic
  • Jacques Uziel
  • Nadège Lubin-Germain
  • Michel Menu
Invited Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The blanching of easel paintings can affect the varnish layer and also the paint layer with a blurring effect. The understanding of the physicochemical and optical phenomena involved in the whitening process remains an important challenge for the painting conservation. A set of ca. 50 microsamples from French, Flemish, and Italian blanched oil paintings, from sixteenth to nineteenth century, have been collected for in deep investigations. In parallel, the reproduction of the alteration was achieved by preparing some paint layers according to historical treatises and altering them in a climatic chamber in a humid environment or directly by immersing in ultrapure water. The observation of raw samples with a field-emission gun scanning electron microscope revealed for the first time that the altered layers have an unexpected highly porous structure with a pore size ranging from ca. 40 nm to 2 μm. The formation mechanism of these pores should mostly be physical as the supplementary analyses (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) do not reveal any noticeable molecular modification. Considering the tiny size of the pores, the alteration can be explained by the Rayleigh or Mie light scattering.

Keywords

Paint Layer Altered Sample Litharge Varnish Layer Altered Layer 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. 1.
    M. Wyld, Natl. Gallery Tech. Bull. 4, 48 (1980)Google Scholar
  2. 2.
    K. Groen, Hamilt. Kerr Inst. Bull. 1, 48 (1988)Google Scholar
  3. 3.
    M. Debauche, Les dégats d’eau sur les peintures à l’huile sur toile (Ecole nationale des Arts visuels de la Cambre (Thesis), 1990)Google Scholar
  4. 4.
    S. Bergeon, P. Curie, Peinture & dessin: vocabulaire typologique et technique (Éditions du patrimoine, 2009)Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    J. Plesters, Natl. Gallery Tech. Bull. 4, 61 (1980)Google Scholar
  6. 6.
    J. Mills, Natl. Gallery Tech. Bull. 4, 60 (1980)Google Scholar
  7. 7.
    V. Stedman, Les chancis de vernis (IFROA, Institut français de restauration des œuvres d’art, Thesis, 1986)Google Scholar
  8. 8.
    C. Bergeaud, J.F. Hulot, A. Roche, La dégradation des peintures sur toile: méthode d’examen des altérations (École nationale du patrimoine, 1997)Google Scholar
  9. 9.
    S. Bergeon, G. Mondorf, S. Delbourgo, J.P. Rioux, Le blanchiment : un cas précis d’étude, In ICOM-CC, 6th Triennial Meeting, Ottawa, 21–25 September 1981, Preprints, vol. 4, 81/20/3 (1981)Google Scholar
  10. 10.
    A. Burnstock, M. Caldwell, M. Odlyha, A technical examination of surface deterioration of Stanley Spencer’s paintings at Sandham Memorial Chapel, In ICOM-CC, 10th Triennial Meeting, Washington, 22–27 August 1993, Preprints (J. Bridgland, ed.), vol. 1, 231 (1993)Google Scholar
  11. 11.
    J. Verhave, A. van Loon, P. Noble, Art Matters Neth Tech. Stud. Art 4, 103 (2007)Google Scholar
  12. 12.
    A. van Loon, J. Boon, The whitening of oil paints films containing bone black, In ICOM-CC, 14th triennial Meeting The Hague, 12–16 September 2005, Preprints (I. Verger, ed.) vol 1, 511 (2005)Google Scholar
  13. 13.
    J. Maroger, The Secret Formulas and Techiques of the Masters (Dessain et Tolra, Paris, 1986)Google Scholar
  14. 14.
    T. De Mayerne, Le manuscrit de Turquet de Mayerne: pictoria, sculptoria & quae subalternarum artium (Audin, 1620)Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    M. Cotte, E. Checroun, J. Susini, P. Dumas, P. Tchoreloff, M. Besnard, P. Walter, Talanta 70, 1136 (2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    M. Cotte, E. Checroun, J. Susini, P. Walter, Appl. Phys. A 89, 841 (2007)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    C. Yvel, Le métier retrouvé des maîtres - La peinture à l’huile (Flammarion/Arts et Métiers Graphiques, 1991)Google Scholar
  18. 18.
    S. Lhomme, La problématique des chancis de couche picturale en conservation-restauration (Ecole du Louvre (Thesis), 2014)Google Scholar
  19. 19.
    M. von der Goltz, J.R.G. Proctor, J. Whitten, L. Mayer, G. Myers, A. Hoenigswald, M. Swicklik, in Conservation of Easel Paintings, ed. by J. H. Stoner, R. Rushfield (Taylor & Francis, 2013), p. 635Google Scholar
  20. 20.
    J. Mills, R. White, in Organic Chemistry of Museum Objects (Taylor & Francis, 2012), p. 95Google Scholar
  21. 21.
    A.N. Assimopoulou, V.P. Papageorgiou, Biomed. Chromatogr. 19, 285 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    C. Gervais, J. Boon, F. Marone, E.B. Ferreira, Appl. Phys. A 111, 31 (2013)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  23. 23.
    J.W. Strutt, Philos. Mag. Ser. 4(41), 274 (1871)Google Scholar
  24. 24.
    M. Elias, J. Lafait, La couleur: lumière, vision et matériaux (Belin, 2006)Google Scholar
  25. 25.
    G. Mie, Ann. Phys. 330, 377 (1908)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. 26.
    A. Genty-Vincent, M. Eveno, A. Mohen, C. Toussat, G. Bastian, J. Langlois, M. Menu, Blanching of the superficial paint layers of L’Aurore, a 17th-century French painting. Contribution to the understanding of the alteration and study of conservation treatments, In ICOM-CC, 17th Triennial Meeting, Melbourne, 15–19 September 2014, Preprints (J. Bridgland, ed), Poster 1320 (2014)Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Anaïs Genty-Vincent
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
  • Myriam Eveno
    • 1
  • Witold Nowik
    • 1
  • Gilles Bastian
    • 1
  • Elisabeth Ravaud
    • 1
  • Isabelle Cabillic
    • 1
  • Jacques Uziel
    • 2
  • Nadège Lubin-Germain
    • 2
  • Michel Menu
    • 1
    • 4
  1. 1.Centre de Recherche et Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF)Palais du Louvre - Porte des LionsParisFrance
  2. 2.Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique (LCB), EA 4505Université de Cergy-PontoiseCergy-Pontoise CedexFrance
  3. 3.Fondation des sciences du PatrimoineCergy-Pontoise CedexFrance
  4. 4.Chimie ParisTech-CNRS, Institut de Recherche Chimie Paris, UMR8247PSL Research UniversityParisFrance

Personalised recommendations