AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Conservation Studies of Heritage Materials Focus Topic Thursday Sessions
       Session CS-ThA

Paper CS-ThA9
The Analysis of Egg-Oil Binding Media by Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

Thursday, November 13, 2014, 5:00 pm, Room 313

Session: Conservation Studies of Heritage Materials 2
Presenter: Zachary Voras, University of Delaware
Authors: Z. Voras, University of Delaware
K. DeGhetaldi, University of Delaware
D. Clark, University of Delaware
J.L. Mass, Winterthur Museum
T.P. Beebe, Jr., University of Delaware
Correspondent: Click to Email
Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is quickly becoming a critical tool in the field of art conservation. This technique provides high-resolution spatial maps of both inorganic and organic components located across and below the surface of a paint cross-section or other art object. With recent advancements in surface analysis, ToF-SIMS can now be used to identify specific amino acids present in protein-containing materials as well as fatty acids present in drying oils. For example, the detection of the ion fragment associated with the amino acid hydroxyproline can be used to confirm the use of animal glue in a paint sample. As an analytical technique, ToF-SIMS avoids the need for derivatization/silylation reagents, with no interference by the presence of reactive or unreactive pigments. Furthermore, the layered systems that are often encountered in historical paint samples remain intact throughout the analytical procedure. This allows for the co-localization of organic and inorganic species in specific layers (e.g., eggyolk paint atop a glue ground). Because of this ability to localize the analytical signal to approximately 1μm or less, the mass spectral information can be used to produce mass-resolved and spatially resolved images which can be correlated to previous studies of the same preserved samples. In this study, ToF-SIMS was used to analyze paint cross-sections obtained from various time periods. A focus will be on works by Italian artists such as Raphael (from the Walters Art Museum) with additional mentions of a painting by Matisse (from the Barnes Foundation) and Henry Ossawa Tanner (from the Smithsonian American Art Museum).