A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TWO MINIATURE PORTRAITS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES USING MODERN METHODS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/uad.2024.1.2Keywords:
UV fluorescence, Infra red reflectography (IRR), painting, collection, Fourier transfer infrared (FTIR), optical microscopy, miniature, museum, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), ivoryAbstract
The purpose of the article is to conduct a comparative analysis of two miniature portraits of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries using optical and physicochemical methods and to determine the time of creation of the unknown portrait. One of the four miniature female portraits by Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757) from the collection of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Art (the Khanenko Museum) and the second female portrait by an unknown artist from a private collection were studied using modern optical and physicochemical methods to establish the technique of creating miniature ivory paintings in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, differences in pigment composition and dating of the miniatures. The microscopic examination revealed the technique of the artworks, in particular, the use of ivory as a base. With the help of a microscope, the grinding of pigments in the painting layer was established: a larger size of pigment particles in the eighteenth-century miniature, as opposed to the uniform grinding in the mid-nineteenth century. The study of the works in ultraviolet (UV) rays revealed the glow of lead whitewash, Berlin blue, cobalt blue, azurite, and in infrared rays (IR) – the absence of a preparatory drawing, which is a feature of miniature painting. The method of X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) was used to determine the elemental composition of the painting layer of miniature portraits. On the basis of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) studies, the structure of ivory and glue binder in the paints was confirmed, a comparative analysis of pigments was carried out, and a conclusion was made about the dating of the miniature painting. The miniature by Rosalba Carriera was created in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, which coincides with the attribution of the Khanenko Museum, and the miniature by an unknown artist was created in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.
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