Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T13:59:22.311Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Microscopy and X-Ray Spectroscopy Analyses for Assessment of Gilding and Silvering Techniques of Portuguese Illuminated Manuscripts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2015

Agnès Le Gac ,
Isabel D. Nogueira ,
Mauro Guerra ,
José Carlos Frade ,
Stéphane Longelin ,
Marta Manso ,
Sofia Pessanha ,
Ana Isabel M. Seruya  and
Maria Luisa Carvalho
Agnès Le Gac*
Affiliation:
Departamento Conservação e Restauro, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Isabel D. Nogueira
Affiliation:
Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto de Ciência e Engenharia de Materiais e Superfícies, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Mauro Guerra
Affiliation:
Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
José Carlos Frade
Affiliation:
CITAR—Centro de Investigação em Ciência e Tecnologia das Artes, Escola das Artes, Centro Regional do Porto da Universidade Católica Portuguesa, 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
Stéphane Longelin
Affiliation:
Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Marta Manso
Affiliation:
Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Sofia Pessanha
Affiliation:
Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Ana Isabel M. Seruya
Affiliation:
Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Maria Luisa Carvalho
Affiliation:
Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author. alg@fct.unl.pt
Get access

Abstract

The objects of this study are various local charters (cartas de foral, in Portuguese) granted by Dom Manuel I, King of Portugal (1495–1521), which substituted for medieval ones and were intended to achieve an administrative unification. These are luxuriously illuminated manuscripts, and our study aims at obtaining a better understanding of the gilding and silvering techniques applied to the parchments, in which the forais were written, between 1500 and 1520. The combined use of microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy analyses allowed us to identify the vestigial materials used for making the parchments, including products such as salt (NaCl), lime (CaO), pumice stone (SiO2+Al2O3), and chalk (CaCO3). Chalk was employed as a whitening agent to give the parchment its final color and opacity. Shell-gold and shell-silver mixed in with animal glue or gum binding media were directly applied on type 1 and 3 forais, while very thin gold leaves (<1 µm) were applied over lead-based tempera grounds (50–180 µm thick) in type 2 forais. Silver was always employed in its finest form without a further protective layer (thus its recursive state of corrosion), while gold was used in various alloy grades.

Keywords

X-ray spectroscopySEM-EDSEDXRFFTIRIlluminated manuscripts
Type
SPMicros Special Section
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 20 - 55
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amadori, M.L., Barcelli, S., Casoli, A., Mazzeo, R. & Prati, S. (2013). A scientific approach to the characterization of the painting materials of Fra Mattia della Robbia polychrome terracotta altarpiece. Appl Phys A 113, 1055–1064.Google Scholar
Audemar, P.S. (later 13th C.–early 14th C.) (1967). De coloribus faciendis. In Medieval and Renaissance Treatises on the Arts of Painting. Original Texts with English Translations, M.P. Merrifield (Ed.), pp. 117–165. New York, NY: Dover Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Bowden, D.J. & Brimblecombe, P. (2000). Sulphur distribution in parchment and leather exposed to sulphur dioxide. J Soc Leath Tech Chem 84, 177.Google Scholar
Brunello, F. (14th C.) (1992). De Arte Illuminandi. Vicenza: Neri Pozza.Google Scholar
Chorão, M.J.M. (1990). Os Forais de D. Manuel 1495–1520. Lisboa: Serviço de Publicações e Divulgação do ANTT.Google Scholar
Clarke, M. (2011). Medieval Painters’ Materials and Techniques: The Montpellier Liber Diversarum Atrium. London: Archetype Publications Ltd.Google Scholar
Claro, A., Dias, C.B., Valadas, S. and Ferreira, T. (2012). Estudo material do Foral Manuelino de Marvão. In O Foral Manuelino de Marvão, J. de OLiveira (Ed.), pp. 107–126. Marvão: IBN MARUÁN-Revista Cultural do Concelho de Marvão.Google Scholar
Dioscorides, P. (between 50 and 70 ad) (2000). De Materia Medica: Being an Herbal with Many Other Medicinal Materials (translated by)T.A. Osbaldeston. Johannesburg: Publisher Ibidis Press.Google Scholar
Dolgin, B., Chen, Y., Bulatov, V. & Schechter, I. (2006). Use of LIBS for rapid characterization of parchment. Anal Bioanal Chem 386, 1535–1541.Google Scholar
Edwards, H.G.M., Farwell, D.W., Newton, E.M., Perez, F.R. & Villar, S.J. (2001). Application of Ft-Raman spectroscopy to the characterization of parchment and vellum, I; novel information for paleographic and historiated manuscript studies. Spectrochim Acta A 57, 1223–1234.Google Scholar
Fernandes, H. (1524). Contracto pera a pintura e estoffo do retabolo da Igreja Matriz de Escalham. Cit. MOREIRA, R. (1991). Vasco Fernandes, Jorge Afonso e o Mestre da Lourinhã, três notas sobre a pintura manuelina. In Vasco Fernandes. Pintor Renascentista de Viseu, A. Correia (Ed.), pp. 47–57. Viseu: Grupo de Amigos do Museu Grão Vasco.Google Scholar
Garcia, J.M. (2009). Forais novos do reinado de D. Manuel. Lisboa: Banco de Portugal.Google Scholar
Grant, M.S. (2000). The use of ultraviolet induced visible-fluorescence in the examination of museum objects, Part II. Conserve 0 Gram 1/10, 1–4.Google Scholar
Guerra, M., Pessanha, S., Manso, M., Longelin, S. & Carvalho, M.L. (2013). Theoretical and experimental study on the angular dependence of scattering processes in XRF systems. X-Ray Spectrom 42, 402–407.Google Scholar
Guerra, M.F. & Calligaro, T. (2003). Gold cultural heritage objects: A review of studies of provenance and manufacturing technologies. Meas Sci Technol 14, 1527–1537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrington, R., Boni, M., Skarpelis, N. & Large, D. (2007). Palaeoclimate, weathering and ore deposits: A European perspective. In Digging Deeper. Proceedings of the Ninth Biennial SGA Meeting, Andrew C.J. et al. (Eds.), pp. 1373–1376. Dublin: Trinity College.Google Scholar
Iordanidis, A., Garcia-Guinea, J., Strati, A. & Gkimourtzina, A. (2013). Gold gilding and pigment identification on a post-byzantine icon from Kastoria, Northern Greece. Anal Lett 46, 936–945.Google Scholar
Katsibiri, O. & Howe, R.F. (2010). Microscopic, mass spectrometric and spectroscopic characterisation of the mordants used for gilding on wall paintings from three post-byzantine monasteries in Thessalia, Greece. Microchem J 94, 83–89.Google Scholar
Larsen, R. (2002). Microanalysis of Parchment. London: Archetype Publications Ltd.Google Scholar
Le Gac, A. (2012). Preliminary research on glues made of tawed leather, parchment and rabbit-skin. In Parchment and Leather Heritage. Conservation-Restoration, E. Jablońska & T. Kozielec (Eds.), pp. 31–60. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikolaja Kopernika Publication.Google Scholar
Le Gac, A., Estrompa, R., Frade, J.C., Pessanha, S., Madeira, T.I., Cardoso, A., Piorro, L., Dias, L., Mirão, J., Candeias, A. & Carvalho, L. (2012). Multianalytical approach for the authenticity of an eighteenth-century Pascal Taskin harpsichord. J Anal At Spectrom 27, 626–643.Google Scholar
Le Gac, A., Pessanha, S., Longelin, S., Guerra, M., Frade, J.C., Lourenço, F., Serrano, M.C., Manso, M. & Carvalho, M.L. (2013). New development on materials and techniques used in the heraldic designs of illuminated Manueline foral charters by multi-analytical methods. Appl Radiat Isot 82, 242–247.Google Scholar
Le Gac, A., Seruya, A.I., Lefftz, M. & Alarcão, A. (2009). The main altarpiece of the old cathedral of Coimbra (Portugal): Characterization of gold alloys used for gilding from 1500 to 1900. ArcheoSciences 33, 423–432.Google Scholar
Mannina, L. & Lombardo, A. (2013). Diagnostic analyses for the study of materials, technique and state of preservation of a gilt and painted leather of the XVIII century. Procedia Chem 8, 202–211.Google Scholar
Manso, M., Le Gac, A., Longelin, S., Pessanha, S., Frade, J.C., Guerra, M., Candeias, A. & Carvalho, M.L. (2013). Spectroscopic characterization of a masterpiece: The manueline foral charter of sintra. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 105, 288–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moura, L., Melo, M.J., Casanova, C. & Claro, A. (2007). A study on Portuguese manuscript illumination: The charter of Vila Flor (flower town) 1512. J Cult Her 8, 299–306.Google Scholar
Novakovic, J., Vassiliou, P. & Georgiza, E. (2013). Electrochemical cleaning of artificially tarnishing silver. Int J Electrochem Sci 8, 7223–7232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pessanha, S., Guerra, M., Le Gac, A., Longelin, S., Manso, M. & Carvalho, M.L. (2013). Determination of gold leaf thickness in a renaissance illumination using a non-destructive approach. X-Ray Spectrom 43(2), 79–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pessanha, S., Manso, M. & Carvalho, M.L. (2012). Application of spectroscopic techniques to the study of illuminated manuscripts: A survey. Spectrochim Acta B 71–72, 54–61.Google Scholar
(ca. 1425–1450) (1967). Secreti per colori. In Medieval and Renaissance Treatises on the Arts of Painting. Original Texts with English Translations, Merrifield M.P. (Ed.), pp. 341–383. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Smith, C.S. & Hawthorne, J.G. (ca. 800 ad) (1974). “Mappae clavicula”. A little key to the world of medieval techniques. Trans Am Philosl Soc 64(4), 3–128.Google Scholar
Smith, C.S. & Hawthorne, J.G. (ca. 1122) (1979). Theophilus. On Divers Arts. The Foremost Medieval Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking and Metalwork . New York: Dover Publications.Google Scholar
Strolovitch, D.H. (2010). The book how to make all colors. In The Materials of the Image, A.L. Urbano (Ed.), pp. 225–236. Lisboa: Universidade de Lisboa.Google Scholar
Troalen, L.G., Guerra, M.F., Tate, J. & Manley, B. (2009). Technological study of gold jewellery pieces dating from the middle kingdom to the new kingdom in Egypt. ArcheoSciences 33, 111–119.Google Scholar
Vasari, G. [1550] (1907). Vasari on technique: being the introduction to the three arts of design, architecture, sculpture and painting, prefixed to the Lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors and architects. G. Baldwin Brown (Ed.), Louisa S. Maclehose (Trans.). London: Dent.Google Scholar