Scientists from the Rijksmuseum, CNRS, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Antwerp made an unusual discovery of lead formate in Rembrandts The Night Watch. The team of scientists combined multi-scale imaging approaches in order to chemically study the products utilized by Rembrandt in The Night Watch. An X-ray scanning instrument developed at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) was applied straight to the painting, while tiny fragments taken from the painting were studied with synchrotron micro X-ray probes, at the ESRF, the European Synchrotron (France), and PETRA-III center (Germany). For Katrien Keune, head of science at Rijksmuseum and professor at the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), this finding is key to understanding Rembrandt much better: “In Operation Night Watch we focus on Rembrandts painting technique, the condition of the painting and how we can best protect it for future generations. The lead formate offers us important brand-new hints about the possible use of lead-based oil paint by Rembrandt and the potential effect of oil-based varnishes from past preservation treatments, and the complex chemistry of historical oil paintings.”
This compound had never been detected before in historic paintings: “In paintings, lead formates have actually only been reported once in 2020, however in design paintings (mock-up, fresh paints). And there, surprise: not just do we find lead formates, but we determine them in areas where there is no lead pigment, white, yellow. We believe that probably they vanish fast, this is why they were not detected in old master paintings until now”, discusses Victor Gonzalez, CNRS researcher at the Macromolecular and supramolecular Photophysics and Photochemistry (PPSM) lab (CNRS/ENS Paris-Saclay) and very first author of the paper.
Ida Fazlić, a Ph.D. student at the ESRF and co-author, during the experiment performed at the European Synchrotron on tiny painting samples. Credit: ESRF/ Stef Candé
Why did this one not disappear then? For Katrien Keune, head of science at Rijksmuseum and teacher at the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), this finding is key to comprehending Rembrandt better: “In Operation Night Watch we focus on Rembrandts painting method, the condition of the painting and how we can best protect it for future generations. The lead formate gives us valuable new clues about the possible usage of lead-based oil paint by Rembrandt and the possible impact of oil-based varnishes from past preservation treatments, and the complex chemistry of historic oil paintings.”
What is the origin of this substance? Can it provide details on Rembrandts workshop dishes, or clarified the chemical systems active in the layers of old paint? To respond to these questions, the researchers studied pieces taken from The Night Watch and design samples prepared in the lab imitating the painters formulas.
They worked with the hypothesis that Rembrandt used an organic medium (linseed oil) consisting of liquified lead oxide (PbO litharge) to boost its siccative residential or commercial properties. “Thanks to the special analytical performance of the ESRF, the worlds brightest synchrotron light source, we might map the existence of formates at a micrometric scale, and follow their formation over time”, explains Marine Cotte, a scientist at the ESRF. The spatial company of the substances at the micro-scale and the dynamics of their formulation made it possible for the researchers to recommend brand-new hypotheses on the chemical conditions of their in situ formation in old paint layers.
” In addition to offering details on Rembrandts pictorial techniques, this research study opens up brand-new avenues on the reactivity of historic pigments, and therefore on the conservation of heritage”, explains Koen Janssens, Professor at the University of Antwerp.
The next action for the team is to more study the origin of these formates and see if they could also originate from previous remediation treatments.
Reference: “Lead( II) Formate in Rembrandts Night Watch: Detection and Distribution from the Macro- to the Micro-scale” by Dr. Victor Gonzalez, Ida Fazlic, Dr. Marine Cotte, Dr. Frederik Vanmeert, Arthur Gestels, Steven De Meyer, Fréderique Broers, Dr. Joen Hermans, Dr. Annelies van Loon, Prof. Koen Janssens, Petria Noble and Prof. Katrien Keune, 2 January 2023, Angewandte Chemie– International edition.DOI: 10.1002/ anie.202216478.
Note: This research study benefits from a helped with access offered to the historic products community to the synchrotron strategies at the ESRF, which has actually been carried out with assistance from the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and development program under grant arrangement No 870313, Streamline.
The Night Watch, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642. Credit: Rijskmuseum Amsterdam
Scientists from the Rijksmuseum, CNRS, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Antwerp made an uncommon discovery of lead formate in Rembrandts The Night Watch. This first-ever discovery in painting research offers a new understanding of 17th-century painting strategies and the preservation history of the art work. The findings were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie– International Edition.
The Night Watch, a renowned masterpiece by Rembrandt is currently housed in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam in The Netherlands. The painting, completed in 1642, underwent its largest-ever research and preservation task in 2019, referred to as Operation Night Watch. A worldwide team of researchers studied the chain reactions and aging of the painting products during this task.
Crystalline stage distribution gotten through structural imaging on a location of The Night Watch (1642) by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669). Credit: Antwerp X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Research group– University of Antwerp, Belgium
The team of scientists integrated multi-scale imaging techniques in order to chemically study the products used by Rembrandt in The Night Watch. An X-ray scanning instrument developed at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) was used straight to the painting, while small pieces drawn from the painting were studied with synchrotron micro X-ray probes, at the ESRF, the European Synchrotron (France), and PETRA-III center (Germany). These two kinds of analyses revealed the presence of an unexpected organo-metallic substance: lead formates.