The scientific study and conservation of our cultural heritage relies a great deal on modern imaging and spectroscopic techniques, especially on non-destructive methods that alleviate the need to take samples from valuable pieces of art. Tana Villafana and colleagues have now adapted 'femtosecond pump–probe microscopy' — a non-destructive biomedical imaging technique, typically applied in analysing skin tissue — for use in conservation science.
In pump–probe microscopy, molecules are electronically excited by a laser pulse train; their response is then probed by a second pulse train. If particular frequencies of the two pulses are chosen, the distribution of pigment molecules on the surface of a painting can be traced.
The authors applied their technique to a fourteenth-century painting, The Crucifixion (pictured) by Italian painter Puccio Capanna. Virtual cross-sections of the robes of Mary and of one of the 'floating angels' reveal differing compositions of the pigments — in particular, of natural ultramarine, which is obtained from the mineral lapus lazuli and in the fourteenth century was more expensive than gold.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Verberck, B. Picturing paints. Nature Phys 10, 177 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2918
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2918