The field of conservation science is currently focused on developing and utilizing the most non-invasive, non-destructive analytical methods as possible when characterizing precious objects of cultural heritage. The development of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) has opened up a new realm of possibilities in the non-invasive analysis of inorganic pigmentation present in these art and artifacts. Benchtop XRF is well suited for smaller objects that can be easily transported to the laboratory for holistic analysis; however, when dealing with objects such as The Presentation of David to King Saul after Slaying Goliath, colloquially known as The Triumph of David, which is 12' x 19' in size, the dynamics and logistics of mounting the painting for laboratory XRF mapping becomes simply unfeasible. With portable XRF spectroscopy (pXRF), the instrument can be brought to the painting, and analyses can be conducted in situ on selected areas of interest. The conservation project surrounding The Triumph of David has provided a considerable number of questions for both the scientists studying it and the conservators working to bring it back to its former glory, and pXRF has been instrumental in answering some of these questions. Conservators have utilized the instrument in order to track the extent of removal of a heavily degraded glaze/varnish layer overlaying the entirety of the work by monitoring the zinc signal present in the XRF spectra. Scientists, in the same vein, have been utilizing the instrument in order to obtain an idea of the pigments present in particular colored areas of the painted surface. It was originally believed that lapis lazuli, the natural form of ultramarine, was utilized throughout the painting as the blue pigment of choice to the artist, but further analysis with pXRF has shown there to be signs of azurite, a copper based blue pigment, in the areas of extensive blue coloring, such as the sky. One of the most important questions surrounding this painting, however, is discovering who the original artist was. In this presentation, it will be shown how, along with answering numerous other questions, XRF data taken of The Triumph of David as compared with the XRF results of other similar works, have led us to believe that the painting was most likely done by the baroque master painter, Pietro da Cortona and/or his studio.

Role of portable X-ray fluorescence in the restoration and attribution of Pietro da Cortona's <i>The Triumph of David</i> (ca. 1640)

248th National Meeting (2014)

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Role of portable X-ray fluorescence in the restoration and attribution of Pietro da Cortona's The Triumph of David (ca. 1640)