Publication
Title
Combined macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) and pulse phase thermography (PPT) imaging for the technical study of panel paintings
Author
Abstract
Museum staff usually relies on a proven combination of X-ray radiography (XRR) and infrared reflectography (IRR) to study paintings in a non-destructive manner. In the last decades, however, the research toolbox of heritage scientists has expanded considerably, with a prime example being macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF), producing element-specific images. The goal of this article is to illustrate the added value of augmenting MA-XRF with pulse phase thermography (PPT), a variant of active infrared thermographic imaging (IRT), which is an innovative diagnostic method that is able to reveal variations between or in materials, based on a different response to minor fluctuations in temperature when irradiated with optical radiation. By examining three 16thand 17th-century panel paintings we assess the extent in which combined MA-XRF and PPT contributes to a better understanding of two commonly encountered interventions to panel paintings: (a) Anstuckungen (enlargement of the panel) or (b) substitutions (replacement of part of the panel). Yielding information from different depths of the painting, these two techniques proved highly complementary with IRR and XRR, expanding the understanding of the build-up, genesis, and material history of the paintings. While MA-XRF documented the interventions to the wooden substrate indirectly by revealing variations in painting materials, paint handling and/ or layer sequence between the original part and the extended or replaced planks, PPT proved beneficial for the study of the wooden support itself, by providing a clear image of the wood structure quasi-free of distortion by the superimposed paint or cradling. XRR, on the other hand, revealed other features from the wood structure, not visible with PPT, and allowed looking through the wooden panels, revealing e.g. the dowels used for joining the planks. Additionally, IRR visualised dissimilarities in the underdrawings. In this way, the results indicate that PPT has the potential to become an acknowledged add-on to the expanding set of imaging methods for paintings, especially when used in combination with MA-XRF, IRR and XRR.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Talanta : the international journal of pure and applied analytical chemistry. - Oxford, 1958, currens
Publication
Amsterdam : Elsevier , 2024
ISSN
0039-9140 [print]
1873-3573 [online]
DOI
10.1016/J.TALANTA.2023.125533
Volume/pages
270 (2024) , p. 1-11
Article Reference
125533
ISI
001144098200001
Pubmed ID
38134817
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Understanding the technological and economical history of enigmatic green copper sulfate pigments in Flemish Renaissance art.
A combined IR, NIR and MA-XRF material inspection method
Depth-selective chemical imaging of Cultural Heritage Objects (DICHO).
Publication type
Subject
Art 
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.03.2024
Last edited 15.03.2024
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