| Record |
| Author |
Alfeld, M.; Siddons, D.P.; Janssens, K.; Dik, J.; Woll, A.; Kirkham, R.; van de Wetering, E. |
| Title |
Visualizing the 17th century underpainting in Portrait of an Old Man by Rembrandt van Rijn using synchrotron-based scanning macro-XRF |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
Year  |
2013 |
Publication |
Applied physics A : materials science & processing |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl Phys A-Mater |
| Volume |
111 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
157-164 |
| Keywords |
A1 Journal article; AXES (Antwerp X-ray Analysis, Electrochemistry and Speciation) |
| Abstract |
In 17th century Old Master Paintings, the underpainting generally refers to the first sketch of a composition. The underpainting is applied to a prepared ground using a monochrome, brown oil paint to roughly indicate light, shade and contours. So far, methods to visualize the underpainting-other than in localized cross-sections-have been very limited. Neither infrared reflectography nor neutron induced autoradiography have proven to be practical, adequate visualization tools. Thus, although of fundamental interest in the understanding of a painting's genesis, the underpainting has virtually escaped all imaging efforts. In this contribution we will show that 17th century underpainting may consist of a highly heterogeneous mixture of pigments, including copper pigments. We suggest that this brown pigment mixture is actually the recycled left-over of a palette scraping. With copper as the heaviest exclusive elemental component, we will hence show in a case study on a Portrait of an Old Man attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn how scanning macro-XRF can be used to efficiently visualize the underpainting below the surface painting and how this information can contribute to the discussion of the painting's authenticity. |
| Address |
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| Corporate Author |
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Thesis |
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| Publisher |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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| Language |
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Wos |
000316075700019 |
Publication Date |
2012-12-14 |
| Series Editor |
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Series Title |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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| Series Volume |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0947-8396 |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
| Impact Factor |
1.455 |
Times cited |
26 |
Open Access |
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| Notes |
; This research was supported by the SSD programme of BELSPO, Brussels (project S2-ART). The text also presents results of GOA 'XANES meets ELNES' (Research Fund, University of Antwerp, Belgium) and from FWO (Brussels, Belgium) projects nos. G.0704.08 and G.01769.09. Further, the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 226716. M. Alfeld receives a Ph.D. fellowship of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO). Use of the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886. We acknowledge the assistance of C. Ryan, CSIRO Australia, in the preparation of the elemental maps using GeoPIXE and Rene Gerritsen (http://www.renegerritsen.nl) in providing photographs, XRR and IRR of the painting. We thank Sullivan Entertainment for documenting part of this project in their TV documentary 'Out of the shadows'. ; |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 1.455; 2013 IF: 1.694 |
| Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:108263 |
Serial |
5908 |
| Permanent link to this record |
