In-situ technical study of modern paintings part 1: The evolution of artistic materials and painting techniques in ten paintings from 1889 to 1940 by Alessandro Milesi (1856-1945)

L Giorgi; A Nevin; L Nodari; D Comelli; R Alberti; M Gironda; S Mosca; E Zendri; M Piccolo; F C Izzo

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2019.04.083

In-situ technical study of modern paintings part 1: The evolution of artistic materials and painting techniques in ten paintings from 1889 to 1940 by Alessandro Milesi (1856-1945)

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2019 Aug 5:219:530-538. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2019.04.083. Epub 2019 Apr 30.

Authors

L Giorgi¹, A Nevin², L Nodari³, D Comelli⁴, R Alberti⁵, M Gironda⁵, S Mosca⁴, E Zendri¹, M Piccolo⁶, F C Izzo⁷

Affiliations

¹ Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Department of Environmental Science, Informatics and Statistics, Via Torino 155 b, Venice 30173, Italy.
² Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFN-CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano 20133, Italy; Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg, Box 130, 40530 Göteborg, Sweden.
³ ICMATE-CNR, Institute for Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technology for Energy, National Research Council (ICMATE-CNR), and INSTM Research Unit, Padua Research Area, C.so Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padua, Italy.
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, Milano 20133, Italy.
⁵ XGLab S.R.L., Via Conte Rosso 23, Milano 20134, Italy.
⁶ MUVE- Fondazione Musei Civici, Venezia 30120, Italy.
⁷ Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Department of Environmental Science, Informatics and Statistics, Via Torino 155 b, Venice 30173, Italy. Electronic address: fra.izzo@unive.it.

PMID: 31078820
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2019.04.083

Abstract

A complementary multi-analytical in-situ approach has been adopted for the investigation of a corpus of ten paintings dating from 1889 and 1940 by the Venetian painter Alessandro Milesi (1856-1945), from the collection of the International Gallery of Modern Art Ca' Pesaro in Venice. Analyses were performed in situ with digital imaging, elemental and spectroscopic analysis. The analysis of pigments and binding media and their possible deterioration patterns were studied with a combination of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectroscopy, External Reflection- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ER-FTIR) and Raman Spectroscopy. These analytical methods provide information regarding the evolution of the artist's palette and the painting techniques adopted in painting. Data suggest the widespread detection of zinc carboxylates, with implications for conservation and display.

Keywords: Alessandro Milesi; External Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ER-FTIR); Non-invasive analysis; Raman Spectroscopy; X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF).