Non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence analysis of the Portrait of a Young Man with a Golden Chain (c. 1635) by Rembrandt and/or atelier

Rafael Molari; Carlos Roberto Appoloni; Sofia Hennen Rodriguez

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109346

Non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence analysis of the Portrait of a Young Man with a Golden Chain (c. 1635) by Rembrandt and/or atelier

Appl Radiat Isot. 2020 Nov:165:109346. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109346. Epub 2020 Jul 24.

Authors

Rafael Molari¹, Carlos Roberto Appoloni², Sofia Hennen Rodriguez³

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Física/CCE, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Caixa Postal 10.011, CEP 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil. Electronic address: rmolari@uel.br.
² Departamento de Física/CCE, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Caixa Postal 10.011, CEP 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil. Electronic address: appoloni@uel.br.
³ Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand - MASP, Av. Paulista 1578, CEP 01310-200, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

PMID: 32739793
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109346

Abstract

XRF is a suitable tool for studies of cultural heritage, since it provides valuable information about the chemical composition of an artefact by means of a non-invasive, multi-elemental and non-destructive in situ analysis. This work presents and discuss the technical examination of the Portrait of a Young Man with a Golden Chain (c. 1635), a wood panel historically attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn and/or atelier, from the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) collection. Rembrandt was a Dutch painter, considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art. Besides his great success as a historical painter and portraitist, Rembrandt ran large workshops and had a large number of pupils and assistants. In situ PXRF were performed for the elemental characterization of the pigments presents in the painting. The results make possible the characterization of the original materials presents in the painting. Some of the materials identified were Lead White, Chalk, Vermilion, Bone Black, Azurite, Smalt, and earth pigments, such as Red, Yellow and Brown Ochres.

Keywords: Non-destructive analysis; PXRF; Paintings.; Pigments.