Surface Analysis Meets Fine Art: Clues to the Degradation Mechanisms of Works by Renaissance Masters and French Impressionists

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is emerging as a valuable new tool for studies of cultural heritage objects including fine art paintings, especially when used in conjunction with established analytical techniques in the field. ToF-SIMS has the ability to provide chemical-based images of organic and inorganic species within a paint cross-section at micrometer-scale spatial resolution. Two major problems in art conservation and restoration are a lack of understanding of the mechanisms of pigment and binder alteration, and pigment-binder interactions. ToF-SIMS’s high sensitivity and surface sensitivity compared to traditional x-ray techniques provides the benefits of identification and localization of the presence of high- and low-concentration species and their potential roles in pigment and binder alteration. In this talk, we will show how ToF-SIMS was used to detect and image both molecular and elemental species related to CdS pigment and binding-medium alteration on Henri Matisse’s masterpiece painting Le Bonheur de vivre (1905-1906, The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia). Three categories of inorganic and organic components were found throughout Le Bonheur de vivre and co-localized in cross-sectional samples using ToF-SIMS analysis: (1) species relating to the preparation and photo-induced oxidation of CdS yellow pigments (2) varying amounts of long-chain fatty acids present in both the paint and primary ground layer and (3) specific amino acid fragments, possibly relating to the painting’s complex restoration history.