Raman spectroscopic study of "The Malatesta": a Renaissance painting?

Raman spectroscopic analysis of the pigments on an Italian painting described as a "Full Length Portrait of a Gentleman", known also as the "Malatesta", and attributed to the Renaissance period has established that these are consistent with the historical research provenance undertaken earlier. Evidence is found for the early 19th Century addition of chrome yellow to highlighted yellow ochre areas in comparison with a similar painting executed in 1801 by Sir Thomas Lawrence of John Kemble in the role of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The Raman data are novel in that no analytical studies have previously been made on this painting and reinforces the procedure whereby scientific analyses are accompanied by parallel historical research.

An analytical Raman spectroscopic study of an important english oil painting of the 18th Century

An opportunity was afforded to analyse pigment specimens from an unrestored oil painting in the style of the English School of the mid-18th Century prior to conservation being undertaken. Raman spectroscopy was adopted to characterise the pigments and indicated the presence of a novel red pigment which was assigned to the complex chromium mineral, hemihedrite, in addition to other interesting materials found in combination. This is the first recorded identification of hemihedrite spectral signals in an art context in a range of mineral pigments that are otherwise typical of this period and some hypotheses are presented to explain its presence based on its occurrence with associated mineral pigments. It is suggested that the presence of powdered glass identified in certain areas of the painting enhanced the reflectivity of the pigment matrix.

The de Brécy Madonna and Child tondo painting: a Raman spectroscopic analysis

Raman spectra have been obtained from a Madonna and Child tondo painting, known as the de Brécy Tondo. Despite the provision of only a small number of microscopic samples, definitive spectra were obtained from mineral pigments. From one specimen, spectra of an organic binder enabled the consideration of several possibilities to be accomplished and a suggestion proposed for the medium. In another specimen the identification of the spectral signatures of Prussian blue, which was only synthesised some 200 years after the predicated date of execution of the painting, indicated that some unrecorded restoration had been undertaken later in the painting's history. Research carried out on this tondo from 1987 to 1991 indicated the probability that it is the work of Raphael, a conclusion supported by further research recently undertaken on the provenance. The stylistic similarity of the tondo to Raphael's Sistine Madonna is very clear; the pigments identified in this analysis are consistent with a Renaissance attribution for the de Brécy Tondo.