Publication
Title
Interpreting technical evidence from spectral imaging of paintings by Edouard Manet in the Courtauld Gallery
Author
Abstract
The paintings by edouard Manet in The Courtauld Gallery Dejeuner sur l'herbe (1863-68), Marguerite de Conflans en Toilette de Bal (1870-1880), Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil (1874), and A Bar at the Folies-Bergere (1882) were investigated for the first time using a range of non-invasive in situ analyses. The aims of the study were to investigate the painting techniques and materials used for this group of works and to critically evaluate the technical evidence derived from the integrated use of imaging techniques and portable spectroscopic methods in this context. The paintings were investigated by means of macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF), reflection spectral imaging, portable UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, portable Raman spectroscopy, and reflection FTIR. MA-XRF and reflection spectral imaging allowed visualising elements in the compositions that were not visible using traditional methods of technical study. For example, MA-XRF analysis of Dejeuner sur l'herbe revealed elements of the development of the composition that provided new evidence to consider its relationship to other versions of the composition. The study also highlighted questions about the interpretation of elemental distribution maps and spectral images that did not correspond to the reworking visible in X-radiographs. For example, in A Bar at the Folies-Bergere Manet made numerous changes during painting, which were not clearly visualised with any of the techniques used. The research has wider implications for the study of Impressionist paintings, as the results will support technical studies of works by other artists of the period who used similar materials and painting methods.
Language
English
Source (journal)
X-ray spectrometry. - London
Source (book)
MA-XRF Workshop on Developments and Applications of Macro-XRF in, Conservation, Art, and Archeology, SEP 24-25, 2017, Trieste, ITALY
Publication
Hoboken : Wiley , 2019
ISSN
0049-8246
DOI
10.1002/XRS.2828
Volume/pages
48 :4 (2019) , p. 282-292
ISI
000472210700005
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
IPERION CH: Integrated Platform for the European Research Infrastructure ON Cultural Heritage
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 01.08.2019
Last edited 25.11.2024
To cite this reference