Raman Spectroscopy for the Study of XVI-XVII Centuries Colonial Paintings
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Raman Spectroscopy for the Study of XVI-XVII Centuries Colonial Paintings Ma. A. García-Bucio, E. Casanova-González, J. L. Ruvalcaba-Sil Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico D.F., Mexico. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Outstanding information about the material composition and pictorial techniques of the New Spain Colonial painting can be obtained via a full characterization using a set of analytical techniques. Given the cultural importance of this painting, a non-invasive approach is preferred. Moreover, the preparation and use of reference materials using original recipes is necessary for a correct interpretation of the spectroscopic data from historical objects. Here, we present the results obtained via an in-situ Raman spectroscopic analysis of a set of pictorial reference materials, created according to XVI and XVII centuries’ recipes. Several difficulties were encountered, such as the low Raman detection signal, an intrinsic fluorescence of the material, and in some cases even laser-induced degradation. For this reason, the usual molecular Raman analysis was extended to Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), which enhances the Raman signal and quenches the fluorescence. It was then applied to the analysis of two wood paintings from the ex-convent San Francisco Tepeyanco, in Tlaxcala. INTRODUCTION Once the conquering of New Spain was achieved, the Spanish crown was urged to legitimate the acquisition of this new territory, as well as to dominate and populate it. This process was theologically justified through evangelization. The altarpieces’ paintings were one of the most efficient instruments to teach religion through art [1]. The European painters that arrived with the first Viceroys (1535-1564) worked mainly for the Church and the Spanish elite. A new wave of painters that began with the arrival of Nicolás Tejada de Guzmán (1558) included some of the most renowned European painters of the time, such as Simon Pereyns and Andrés de Concha. They introduced to the New Spain the two main material and pictorial technical tendencies of the European painting at that moment, the Flemish and the Italian schools. From 1556 to 1612, both painted works for several churches in Mexico, sometimes even together as in the case of the altarpieces at Teposcocula, the old cathedral in Mexico City and Huejotzingo [1]. Later on, Baltasar de Echave Orio and other artists started to make a different kind of art, now known as Novo-Hispanic art. One and a half century later, the palette and language of painting by Echave Orio were still valid [2]. However, many questions regarding early stages of Novo-Hispanic painting are yet to be answered, since there is little information available and many works are unsigned or out of context [3]. The information about the materials that are present in such complex objects as the novo-Hispanic paintings is very useful in order to understand the adaptation processes of th
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