Abstract
During the treatment of the decorative ceiling and chimney paintings by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1675–1741) located in the Golden Room of the Mauritshuis, a visually disturbing surface haze was encountered on the paintings following varnish removal. SEM-EDX, FTIR, and DTMS analysis demonstrated that this layer is primarily inorganic and complex in composition, with major elemental components including lead and sulfur followed by a lower proportion of potassium and calcium. The major elements are present in the form of sulfates of lead and lead-potassium, in addition to calcium oxalates. This salt-containing crust layer appears as a distinct layer located directly above the paint and does not seem to be intimately bound to the paint, but is composed of elements coming from the paint as well as environmental contaminants. As this layer significantly altered the artist’s original intent, its removal was desirable and justifiable. Based on this analysis, an aqueous gel testing procedure was developed in order to determine a safe cleaning approach for the removal of the surface crust.
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Notes
- 1.
The stability constant of TAC with Ca(II) is 4.68; with Pb(II) 6.50. The stability constant of EDTA with Ca(II) is 10.96; with Pb(II) 18.04. The stability constant of DTPA with Ca(II) is 10.9; with Pb(II) 18.9.
- 2.
Drops of concentrated acetic acid and 25% ammonia solution were used to obtain a buffered solution at pH 5.5; triethyl amine (TEA) and dilute HCl were used to obtain buffered solutions at pH 7.0, 7.5 and 8.5.
- 3.
Solubility of CaC2O4 in water is 6.7 mg/l at 25 °C; PbSO4 4.25 mg/L at 25 °C; K2SO4 120 g/L at 20 °C.
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Acknowledgments
FTIR and DTMS analyses were carried out by Fred Singelenberg and Wim Genuit of Shell Netherlands. We thank Joen Hermans (PAinT project) for his help with preparing the gels and salt solutions. We are grateful to Richard Wolbers for his advice regarding gel cleaning. We also thank colleagues of the Mauritshuis, especially Petria Noble for her critical comments on the poster, as presented at the Metal Soaps in Art Conference, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, March 2016. This research took place as part of the “Partners in Science” collaboration with Shell Netherlands, which is chaired by Bob van Wingerden, and the PAinT Project supported by the Science4Arts program of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
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Van Loon, A., Hartman, L.E., van den Burg, J., Haswell, R., Pottasch, C. (2019). The Development of an Aqueous Gel Testing Procedure for the Removal of Lead-Rich Salt Crusts on the Surface of Paintings by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1675–1741) in the “Golden Room” of the Mauritshuis. In: Casadio, F., et al. Metal Soaps in Art. Cultural Heritage Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90617-1_16
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