COMBINED C-14 ANALYSIS OF CANVAS AND ORGANIC BINDER FOR DATING A PAINTING

Hendriks, Laura; Hajdas, Irka; Ferreira, Ester S. B.; Scherrer, Nadim; Zumbühl, Stefan; Küffner, Markus; Wacker, Lukas; Synal, Hans-Arno; Günther, Detlef (2018). COMBINED C-14 ANALYSIS OF CANVAS AND ORGANIC BINDER FOR DATING A PAINTING Radiocarbon, 60(1), pp. 207-218. 10.1017/rdc.2017.107

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The use of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for age determinations of paintings is growing due to decreasing sample size requirements. However, as only the support material is usually dated, the validity of the results may be questioned. This work describes a novel sampling and preparation technique for dating the natural organic binder using radiocarbon (C-14) AMS. In the particular case of oil paintings, the natural oil used has a high probability of being representative of the time of creation, hereby circumventing the problem of the originality of the support material. A multi-technique approach was developed for a detailed characterization of all paint components to identify the binder type as well as pigments and additives present in the sample. The technique was showcased on a painting of the 20th century. The results by C-14 AMS dating show that both the canvas and binding medium predate the signed date by 4-5 yr. This could be the time span for keeping painting material in the atelier. The method developed provides, especially given the low amounts of material needed for analysis, a superior precision and accuracy in dating and has potential to become a standard method for oil painting dating.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	Bern Academy of the Arts Bern Academy of the Arts > Institute Materiality in Art and Culture Bern Academy of the Arts > HKB Teaching Bern Academy of the Arts > Institute Materiality in Art and Culture > Material analyses
Name:	Hendriks, Laura; Hajdas, Irka; Ferreira, Ester S. B.; Scherrer, Nadim0000-0002-6576-885X; Zumbühl, Stefan0000-0002-8896-2938; Küffner, Markus; Wacker, Lukas; Synal, Hans-Arno and Günther, Detlef
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > ND Painting
ISSN:	0033-8222
Language:	English
Submitter:	Nadim Scherrer
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2020 14:07
Last Modified:	18 Dec 2020 13:28
Publisher DOI:	10.1017/rdc.2017.107
Related URLs:	Publisher
Web of Science ID:	000431184300014
Additional Information:	Notes: ISI Document Delivery No.: GE4KI Times Cited: 5 Cited Reference Count: 32 Hendriks, Laura Hajdas, Irka Ferreira, Ester S. B. Scherrer, Nadim C. Zumbuhl, Stefan Kuffner, Markus Wacker, Lukas Synal, Hans-Arno Gunther, Detlef ETH Research Grant [ETH-21 15-1] The authors thank the SIK-ISEA for granting access to their in-house collection of paintings, providing an ideal case study and allowing for sampling. The support of the HKB for the pigment analysis is gratefully acknowledged. Both Maria Belen Rottig and Mantana Maurer are thanked for their support in the lab. We also thank Beat Aeschlimann for the ICP-OES measurements. Funding was supported by an ETH Research Grant ETH-21 15-1. Univ arizona dept geosciences Tucson Custom 1: Article Date: 2018
Uncontrolled Keywords:	C-14 AMS dating artwork dating binding medium sample characterization radiocarbon-dates ion-source art pigments removal library
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.8088
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/8088