infocus #1 March 2006 Microscopical Techniques applied to traditional paintings

applied to traditional paintings

DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.2

For 50 years, conservators have made cross-sections using small samples from traditional paintings, in order to study the materials of painting. Conservation scientists have extended earlier examinations in visible light alone, to examination in ultraviolet fluorescence, on to studies of melting point (thermomicroscopy), and most recently advanced imaging techniques applied to the same cross-sections. Developments in these areas are presented. Two projects are presented as short case studies - cataloguing of 16th- and 17th-century paintings, and cataloguing of early 20th-century Camden Town paintings.

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Authors

Joyce H Townsend

Conservation Department, Tate, Milbank

Dr Joyce Townsend is a Senior Conservation Scientist at Tate, London, UK. She concentrates on the identification and deterioration of artists' materials and the interpretation of artists’ techniques. Dr Townsend has published studies on Reynolds,William Blake,Turner, the Pre-Raphaelites,Whistler, Sargent, G.F Watts and other artists, and edited conference proceedings and books. She is Chair of the Institute of Conservation Science, and Visiting Professor in Conservation Science for the University of the Arts, London.

Katrien Keune

FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics

Dr Katrien Keune is a conservation scientist. For five years she was part of the De Mayerne project team in the Molecular Paintings Research group at the FOM-Institute AMOLF, the Netherlands, where she explored various analytical non-destructive imaging techniques to obtain detailed molecular information of paintings. Dr Katrien Keune obtained her doctorate in this subject in 2005. She received a scholarship to do postdoctoral research at the National Gallery, London.