Authors: Paula Dredge Simon Ives Daryl L Howard Kathryn M Spiers Andrew Yip Sarah Kenderdine
Publish Date: 2015/09/15
Volume: 121, Issue: 3, Pages: 789-800
Abstract
A portrait of Henry VIII on oak panel c 1535 has recently undergone technical examination to inform questions regarding authorship and the painting’s relationship to a group of similar works in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery London and the Society of Antiquaries Due to previous conservation treatments of the painting the conventional transmission Xradiograph image was difficult to interpret As a result the painting underwent highdefinition Xray fluorescence XRF elemental mapping on the Xray fluorescence microscopy beamline of the Australian Synchrotron Scans were conducted at 126 and 185 keV below and above the lead Pb L edges respectively Typical scan parameters were 120 μm pixel size at 7 ms dwell time with the largest scan covering an area 545 × 287 mm2 collected in 23 h 108 MP XRF mapping of the panel has guided the conservation treatment of the painting and the revelation of previously obscured features It has also provided insight into the process of making of the painting The informative and detailed elemental maps alongside ultrahighdefinition scans of the painting undertaken before and after varnish and overpaint removal have assisted in comparison of the finely painted details with the London paintings The resolution offered by the combination of imaging techniques identifies pigment distribution at an extremely fine scale enabling a new understanding of the artist’s paint applicationThe conservation and technical examination of Portrait of Henry VIII was funded through the generous contributions of Len Groat Ken Reed Hamish Parker Friends of Conservation and a gift in memory of the late Dorothy R Spry Part of this research was carried out on the Xray fluorescence microscopy beamline at the Australian Synchrotron Clayton Victoria Australia Access to the Australian Synchrotron was supported under the NSW Industry Synchrotron Access Scheme funded by the NSW State Government Office of Science and Research In addition the authors are grateful to Gillian Osmond Queensland Art Gallery and Malgorzata Sawicki Art Gallery of New South Wales for their comments
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