The silver is today altered into silver chloride. The Tuileries and Carrousel Gardens. California Privacy Statement, At the interface, a layer rich in medium is present (layer 4), probably applied during the repainting. Few areas produce a low gold response, appearing in blue. The Crucifix by Giotto and his workshop conserved at the Louvre museum (MI357) is one of the very few crosses conserved in a French museum. The different imaging analytical techniques applied brought complementary results allowing us to reconstruct the original decoration. Anal Chem. The second one, corresponding to higher copper contents, was found near the foliage, and identified as azurite, since a blue pigment was observed by optical microscopy in cracks in this area. TC and LP developed the 2D-XRF spectrometer. Bull D, Krekeler A, Alfeld M, Dik J, Janssens K: An intrusive portrait by Goya. A complementary methodology combining classical X-ray imaging, sample analysis and 2D-XRF was applied to large areas of the Giotto’s crucifix. 100 nm on top of a silver layer of ca. Giotto (1266–1337) and his workshop realized c. 1315 the large Crucifix now in the Louvre Museum. Having his crucifix accepted by the Louvre does not, of course, mean Silverman can yet be fêted with certainty for pulling off one of the greatest one-twos in art history: rescuing both a Leonardo and a Michelangelo from anonymity. The contour of the flower was thus originally lined with red and not black as repainted today. Selected Works. To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser. Stigmatization of St. Francis was painted in the first year of the fourteenth century for the Church of San Francesco in Pisa. Correspondence to The cross is 2.84 m high by 2.31 m width and made of poplar and pine wood (Figure 1). The conservation of this masterpiece in 2010–2013 in the C2RMF studios gave the opportunity for a comprehensive investigation of the execution technique through a characterization of the paint layers. Paris, Musée Du Louvre Crucifixion, 1457-1459, by Andrea Mantegna , tempera on wood, 67x93 cm. Article  b) c) and d) Samples locations: the green glaze (1), in a reddish-brown area (2), in a black area (3), in the uncovered gilded area (4). Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France, Palais du Louvre, Paris, France, Myriam Eveno, Elisabeth Ravaud, Thomas Calligaro, Laurent Pichon & Eric Laval, You can also search for this author in Introduction The Crucifix by Giotto and his workshop conserved at the Louvre museum (MI357) is one of the very few crosses conserved in a French museum. Emissiography experimental setup. As for the painting, the visible decoration is composed of brown earth and organic greenish color whereas the original is made of red lake, copper green, azurite and vermillion. To sum up, a grey scale image shows a distinct response in X-ray images reflecting the presence of various pigments (Figure 6). These areas correspond thus to a hidden decoration containing a pigment with heavy elements. Find more prominent pieces of religious painting at Wikiart.org – best visual art database. Curatorial Departments. The dots appearing in corners are an experimental artifact corresponding to a ghost image of the lead map induced by an excessive count rate (Figure 7). Brambilla Barcilon P: Notizie e risultati del restauro in La croce di Giotto. ER performed and interpreted X-ray imaging and studied the art history context. The visible geometric decoration is composed of six elementary patterns of ca. ‘The Crucifixion’ was created in 1503 by Andrea Solario in High Renaissance style. We are indebted to Vincent Pomarède director of the Louvre painting department for his constant support. Some important features of the original decoration, such as the interlacing pattern are however missing from this scheme. The visible metallic leaf is a thin gold leaf applied on a mordant gilding while the original one is a double leaf of gold and silver (Zwischgold) applied on a red bole. The original green, blue and red patterns were subsequently repainted in black. They correspond to three situations: the Au X-rays of the original underlying foil are absorbed by an overlapping original paint layer (likely copper-based pigments), the modern foil gold signal is attenuated by the overlying lead white motif (white dots in corners), the gold foil was not applied (e.g. Di Bondone, who quietly supported the Franciscan church throughout his life, drew inspiration from St. Francis's love of nature and keen observation of the world around him. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. Download. 2007, 62: 63-68. The visible one closely follows the hidden original one and no additional elements have been observed. The copper map is particularly informative, as it shows two intensity levels that were ascribed to two distinct copper-based pigments (Cu levels < 2000 counts and > 2000 counts, respectively). Louvre Museum. These X-ray images revealed several features of the patterns. IntroductionThe Crucifix by Giotto and his workshop conserved at the Louvre museum (MI357) is one of the very few crosses conserved in a French museum. 1995, 57-75. Thus, the entire decorative side fields might have turned dark with time and motivated its repainting. 2002. directed by Marco Ciatti, Florence. 2011, 26: 899-10.1039/c0ja00257g. These lines now repainted in black were originally green and blue, respectively. Nucl Instr Meth B. Early in the study, extensive repaints were evidenced, particularly in the decorations on both sides of the Christ (Figure 1). The combination of the previous results allows us to propose a reconstruction of the original pattern painted with copper green, azurite, vermillion and lead white (Figure 8b). On the gold leaf, the pattern shows a geometric base, with green and reddish-brown areas delimited by black lines and some white dots. The bottom layers correspond to the original composition and the upper layers to the repaint. The 19th C. repainting was executed with a restricted palette, containing earth pigments, organic green, bone black applied on a gold foil attached to a gilding mordant containing chromium. The XRF spectrum of each pixel is processed with the PYMCA program developed by the synchrotron community [12]. Learn more about the history of crucifixion, the death of Jesus, and its depiction in art. The 2D-XRF maps evidenced two levels of copper that could be ascribed to two different copper pigments, a blue and a green one. (© C2RMF Elisabeth Ravaud). Bridgman CF, Keck S, Sherwood HF: The radiography of panel paintings by electronemission. Part of In the lower part of the cross section (Figure 3), the original painting appears composed of a conventional gesso ground (layer 1) covered by a red layer of bole made of earth pigments (layer 2) beneath a metallic leaf (layer 3). Cimabue (US: / ˌ tʃ iː m ə ˈ b uː eɪ,-m ɑː ˈ-/; Italian: [tʃimaˈbuːe]; Ecclesiastical Latin: [tʃiˈmabu.e]; [citation needed] c. 1240 – 1302), also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter and designer of mosaics from Florence.. The results showed that the reddish-brown layer is composed of earth pigments, whereas the green glaze, unlike often seen in old paintings, is not a copper green but an organic matter. 10.1016/j.sab.2006.12.002. Of course, details too small to be imaged and additional organic materials undetectable with the techniques employed could have been omitted in our proposition. Figure 9 depicts the emissiography experimental setup employed. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Part I, Examination of the Uomini Illustri: looking for the origins of the portraits in the Studiolo of the Ducal Palace of Urbino. Under the black layer composed mainly of earth pigments and bone black, the SEM-EDX analysis showed the presence of a green layer containing copper, likely verdigris. S. Olschki, florence; 1949:266p. The head integrates a 50-kV molybdenum X-ray generator that produces a 1 mm beam spot on the painting and a fast-counting silicon drift detector to collect the X-rays emitted by the irradiated point. Rhenish copper Crucifix, circa 1150. New Mexico, Taos, Martinez Hacienda, family chapel, crucifix. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-014-0017-y, Technart 2013: Analytical Spectroscopy in Art and Archaeology, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 23-26 September 2013. The 2D-XRF imaging technique was applied in view to precise the nature of pigments. Paris. Paris, Musée Du Louvre Crucifixion, 1457-1459, by Andrea Mantegna , tempera on wood, 67x93 cm. Terms and Conditions, Scanning X-ray fluorescence imaging of paintings, labelled here 2D-XRF, was initially developed using synchrotron radiation [9]. gesso ground (1) red bole (2), Zwischgold leaf (3), thin organic layer (4), orange gilding mordant containing chrome yellow (5), 19th gold leaf (6) and top varnish (7). 1996, XIth ICOM Conservation Committee, Edimbourg. The browning of copper pigments is a well known process, so as the blackening of vermillion which was also observed in other parts of the cross and the degradation of the silver contained in the Zwischgold. Privacy The X-ray images correspond here to the visible pattern, and the pigments contain heavy elements. 600 nm. Manage cookies/Do not sell my data we use in the preference centre. ... crucifix at sunrise - the crucifixion stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. visible pattern and Ag Au Ca Fe Pb Cu Hg elemental maps of the scanned area. Dominique Thiébaut, Louvre painting curator dated the crucifix ca. To complement these investigations, several micro samples collected during the conservation campaign and prepared in cross-sections were studied by scanning electron microscope with X-ray energy dispersive analysis (SEM -EDX). Is this the same image of the “Ecce Homo” or a wooden bust of Christ now displayed in a side altar in the basilica? Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. The pigment is probably made of low or intermediate atomic number elements. Reply. The SEM analyses have been carried out using the scanning electron microscope Philips XL30 (20 kV), equipped with the energy-dispersive X-ray detector from Oxford Instruments. 21, 23–24 nn. Below are the links to the authors’ original submitted files for images. The drawback is the undesirable trend to tarnish. Zwischgold is made of two thin sheets of gold and silver hammered together and used in place of gold leaf, possibly for economical reasons. Alfeld M, Broekaert JAC: Mobile depth profiling and sub-surface imaging techniques for historical paintings—Review Article. Combination of various scientific imaging techniques provided a precise picture of the hidden decorative side fields of the Crucifix from the Louvre museum. History of the Louvre. This eucharistic service, comprising a basin, altar-cruets, a The results achieved by these analytical techniques, all performed at the C2RMF and fully complementary, bring to light that the original composition was repainted in the first half of the 19th C. The first and invisible composition is composed of a Zwischgold gilding applied on a red bole, on which a geometric decoration was applied using bright pigments such as azurite, vermillion, verdigris, lead white and red glaze. a) decorated side fields with geometric patterns. Showing the different response in the visible image and vice versa semi-quantitative elemental maps of the target the. 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