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Title
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Neutron activation autoradiography and scanning macro-XRF of Rembrandt van Rijn's Susanna and the Elders (Gemaldegalerie Berlin) : a comparison of two methods for imaging of historical paintings with elemental contrast
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Author
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Abstract
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| Imaging methods with elemental contrast are of great value for the investigation of historical paintings, as they allow for study of sub-surface layers that provide insight into a painting's creation process. Two of the most important methods are neutron activation autoradiography (NAAR) and scanning macro-XRF (MA-XRF). Given the differences between these methods in the fundamental physical phenomena exploited, a theoretical comparison of their capabilities is difficult and until now a critical comparison of their use on the same painting is missing. In this paper, we present a study of Rembrandt van Rijn's painting Susanna and the Elders from the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin employing both techniques. The painting features a considerable number of overpainted features and a wide range of pigments with different elemental tracers, including earth pigments (Mn/Fe), Azurite (Cu), lead white (Pb), vermilion (Hg) and smalt (Co, As). MA-XRF can detect all elements above Si (Z = 14), suffers from few spectral overlaps and can be performed in a few tens of hours in situ, i.e. in a museum. NAAR requires the stay of the painting at a research facility for several weeks, and inter-element interferences can be difficult to resolve. Also, only a limited number of elements contribute to the acquired autoradiographs, most notably Mn, Cu, As, Co, Hg and P. However, NAAR provides a higher lateral resolution and is less hindered by absorption in covering layers, which makes it the only method capable of visualizing P in lower paint layers. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Applied physics A : materials science & processing. - Heidelberg, 1995, currens
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Publication
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Heidelberg
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Springer
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2015
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ISSN
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0947-8396
[print]
1432-0630
[online]
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DOI
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10.1007/S00339-015-9081-8
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Volume/pages
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119
:3
(2015)
, p. 795-805
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ISI
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000354189200001
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
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