Degradation Process of Lead Chromate in Paintings by Vincent van Gogh Studied by Means of Spectromicroscopic Methods. 3. Synthesis, Characterization, and Detection of Different Crystal Forms of the Chrome Yellow Pigment

The painter, Vincent van Gogh, and some of his contemporaries frequently made use of the pigment chrome yellow that is known to show a tendency toward darkening. This pigment may correspond to various chemical compounds such as PbCrO4 and PbCr1‑x S x O4, that may each be present in various crystallo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Analytical chemistry (Washington) 2013-01, Vol.85 (2), p.851-859
Main Authors: Monico, Letizia, Janssens, Koen, Miliani, Costanza, Brunetti, Brunetto Giovanni, Vagnini, Manuela, Vanmeert, Frederik, Falkenberg, Gerald, Abakumov, Artem, Lu, Yinggang, Tian, He, Verbeeck, Johan, Radepont, Marie, Cotte, Marine, Hendriks, Ella, Geldof, Muriel, van der Loeff, Luuk, Salvant, Johanna, Menu, Michel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimony - analysis
Art and art history
Biodegradation
Chemical Sciences
Chemical synthesis
Chromates - analysis
Chromium compounds
Chromium Compounds - analysis
Chromium Compounds - chemical synthesis
Crystallization
Crystallography
Humanities and Social Sciences
Lead - analysis
Pigments
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectrum analysis
Spectrum Analysis, Raman
Titanium - analysis
Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-90)
X-Ray Diffraction
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The painter, Vincent van Gogh, and some of his contemporaries frequently made use of the pigment chrome yellow that is known to show a tendency toward darkening. This pigment may correspond to various chemical compounds such as PbCrO4 and PbCr1‑x S x O4, that may each be present in various crystallographic forms with different tendencies toward degradation. Investigations by X-ray diffraction (XRD), mid-Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR), and Raman instruments (benchtop and portable) and synchrotron radiation-based micro-XRD and X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy performed on oil-paint models, prepared with in-house synthesized PbCrO4 and PbCr1‑x S x O4, permitted us to characterize the spectroscopic features of the various forms. On the basis of these results, an extended study has been carried out on historic paint tubes and on embedded paint microsamples taken from yellow-orange/pale yellow areas of 12 Van Gogh paintings, demonstrating that Van Gogh effectively made use of different chrome yellow types. This conclusion was also confirmed by in situ mid-FTIR investigations on Van Gogh’s Portrait of Gauguin (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam).
ISSN:0003-2700
1520-6882
DOI:10.1021/ac302158b