Probing the chemistry of CdS paints in The Scream by in situ noninvasive spectroscopies and synchrotron radiation x-ray techniques

Letizia Monico; Laura Cartechini; Francesca Rosi; Annalisa Chieli; Chiara Grazia; Steven De Meyer; Gert Nuyts; Frederik Vanmeert; Koen Janssens; Marine Cotte; Wout De Nolf; Gerald Falkenberg; Irina Crina Anca Sandu; Eva Storevik Tveit; Jennifer Mass; Renato Pereira de Freitas; Aldo Romani; Costanza Miliani

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay3514

Probing the chemistry of CdS paints in The Scream by in situ noninvasive spectroscopies and synchrotron radiation x-ray techniques

Sci Adv. 2020 May 15;6(20):eaay3514. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay3514. eCollection 2020 May.

Authors

Letizia Monico^{1

2

3}, Laura Cartechini^{1

2}, Francesca Rosi^{1

2}, Annalisa Chieli^{1

2}, Chiara Grazia^{1

2}, Steven De Meyer³, Gert Nuyts³, Frederik Vanmeert³, Koen Janssens^{3

4}, Marine Cotte^{5

6}, Wout De Nolf⁵, Gerald Falkenberg⁷, Irina Crina Anca Sandu⁸, Eva Storevik Tveit⁸, Jennifer Mass^{9

10}, Renato Pereira de Freitas^{1

11}, Aldo Romani^{1

2}, Costanza Miliani^{1

2

12}

Affiliations

¹ CNR-SCITEC, via Elce di Sotto 8, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
² SMAArt Centre and Department of Chemistry, Biology, and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, via Elce di Sotto 8, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
³ AXES Research Group, NANOlab Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
⁴ Rijksmuseum, Conservation & Restoration-Scientific Research, Hobbemastraat 22, 1071 ZC Amsterdam, Netherlands.
⁵ ESRF, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France.
⁶ LAMS, CNRS UMR 8220, Sorbonne Université, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
⁷ DESY, Notkestraße 85, 22603 Hamburg, Germany.
⁸ Munch Museum, Tøyengata 53, 0578 Oslo, Norway.
⁹ Bard Graduate Center, 86th St., New York, NY 10024, USA.
¹⁰ Scientific Analysis of Fine Art LLC, 843 Old State Rd., Berwyn, PA 19312, USA.
¹¹ LISComp Laboratory, Federal Institute of Rio de Janeiro, Paracambi, RJ 26600000, Brazil.
¹² CNR-ISPC, via Cardinale Guglielmo Sanfelice 8, 80134 Napoli, Italy.

Abstract

The degradation of cadmium sulfide (CdS)-based oil paints is a phenomenon potentially threatening the iconic painting The Scream (ca. 1910) by Edvard Munch (Munch Museum, Oslo) that is still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for the presence of cadmium sulfate and sulfites as alteration products of the original CdS-based paint and explore the external circumstances and internal factors causing this transformation. Macroscale in situ noninvasive spectroscopy studies of the painting in combination with synchrotron-radiation x-ray microspectroscopy investigations of a microsample and artificially aged mock-ups show that moisture and mobile chlorine compounds are key factors for promoting the oxidation of CdS, while light (photodegradation) plays a less important role. Furthermore, under exposure to humidity, parallel/secondary reactions involving dissolution, migration through the paint, and recrystallization of water-soluble phases of the paint are associated with the formation of cadmium sulfates.

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