This study presents the first technical examination of Ring Around the Rosie (ca. 1908), an easel painting by the Greek artist Symeon Savvidis (1859–1927). Despite Savvidis’ significance within Greek modernism, little is known about his materials and working practices from a scientific perspective. To address this gap, the painting was analysed using VNIR hyperspectral imaging (HSI), portable Raman spectroscopy, and handheld energy dispersive X ray fluorescence (h-EDXRF). The integration of imaging, molecular, and elemental data enabled the identification of several pigment classes, including cobalt blue, ultramarine, lead chromates, ochres, lead white, and a tentative Cu-As green pigment, while also providing information on their spatial distribution across the surface. HSI classification and the examination of a representative NIR image revealed relationships among the coloured passages and suggested the widespread use of a cobalt-containing background paint. The results further indicate that several compositional elements may have been applied directly over previously, although the absence of stratigraphic information prevents definitive conclusions regarding paint layering and mixtures. Overall, the study demonstrates the value of combining HSI, Raman spectroscopy, and h-EDXRF for the non-invasive investigation of artists’ materials and highlights the contribution of technical studies to a broader understanding of Savvidis’ artistic practice and modern Greek painting traditions.

This paper presents the first imaging-based comparative study of the mural paintings created by Almada Negreiros in 1945 and 1949 for Lisbon’s Maritime Stations, two major ensembles of twentieth-century mural painting. Although both cycles are officially documented as fresco paintings, their visual appearance differs. The central question was whether the differences are merely stylistic or whether they also correspond to distinct technical and material choices. The research was centred on an on-site imaging and analytical protocol integrating technical photography (Vis, Vis-Rak, and UVF), colorimetry, handheld optical microscopy (h-OM), and handheld energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (h-EDXRF). Targeted laboratory analysis of selected micro-samples from mortars and paint layers was carried out using 3D and 2D OM, VP-SEM-EDS, XRD, µ-Raman, and Py-GC/MS, allowing more in-depth stratigraphic, colorant, and binder analysis. The results suggest that the differences between the two mural ensembles are not primarily related to the materials used by Almada Negreiros in the plasters and paint layers. Rather, they appear to concern technical procedures, color distribution, and the differentiated working of the painted surface during execution. This is particularly evident in the transfer of the full-scale drawings to the wall, involving variations between traditional and innovative pouncing techniques. The pigment range appears broadly similar in both cycles, combining traditional earth pigments and modern synthetic colors, but their use and chromatic impact differ significantly. Visible raking light imaging was particularly useful for revealing differences in the paint surface appearance, from the pressed ground-colour surface in the 1945 murals to the more textured surfaces with visible brushwork in the 1949 cycle.

This study presents an integrated archaeometric analysis of three key Roman mosaics (Tethys, Erotes, and Scrollworks) from the Marroqu & iacute;es Altos site (Ja & eacute;n, Spain), currently displayed at the Museum of Ja & eacute;n. The aim was to enhance their historical value and define their regional features within the Upper Guadalquivir Valley. The innovative, non-destructive methodology integrated systematic photogrammetric digitization with portable spectroscopic techniques (handheld Raman and h-XRF), which was essential as the mosaics are wall-mounted. A large dataset was generated and processed using multivariate statistical analysis (PCA). Results confirmed the use of locally sourced limestone but, crucially, identified the widespread presence and selective use of ironstone (haematite) across two of the three mosaics. This unique finding strongly supports the existence of a distinctive regional practice within the Roman mosaic school of Ja & eacute;n, setting the local production apart from other Roman mosaics in Europe and advancing a comprehensive understanding of the region's material culture.

Three paintings of Symeon Savvidis, one of Francesco Pige and one from Andreas Kriezis belonging to the permanent collection of the National Gallery-Alexandros Soutsos Museum located in Athens, Greece, were analysed in situ, during the museum's opening hours, by Raman spectroscopy, handheld x-ray fluorescence (hXRF) and hyperspectral imaging (UV-Vis-NIR HSI). Raman spectroscopy point analysis, performed on multiple points on the surface of the paintings, revealed the materials used by the artists. Additionally, micro-Raman maps were obtained from selected areas, for the distribution of the pigments to be revealed. This is one of the first testimonies of in situ Raman mapping of easel paintings, performed in a museum, during opening hours. Challenges on maintaining the focusing during the acquisition of the Raman maps are also underlined. Materials frequently identified via Raman spectroscopy were lead white (2PbCO(3)center dotPb (OH)(2)), vermillion (HgS), ultramarine blue (Na6-10Al6Si6O24S2-4), Prussian blue (KFeIII[Fe-II (CN)(6)]center dot xH(2)O or Fe-4(III)[Fe-II (CN)(6)](3)center dot xH(2)O) with other components found complementing the palette of the artists (e.g., chrome yellow (PbCrO4), chrome orange (PbCrO4 center dot Pb(OH)(2), carbon-based black (C)). Sporadically and in different paintings, haematite (alpha-Fe2O3), strontium yellow (SrCrO4) and barium sulfate (BaSO4) were characterized. hXRF and UV-Vis-NIR HSI supported the information retrieved by both Raman instruments.

‘The Saint Vincent panels’ are produced by the painter Nuno Gonçalves, and it is a fifteenth century polyptych consisting of six panels. The uniqueness of the work, together with the documentation scarcity about Nuno Gonçalves, highlights the importance of the research of characterizing the colour palette. Raman spectroscopy, both in situ and laboratory instrumentation, was used for this. The mobile Raman spectroscopy campaign is part of the multidisciplinary research project ‘Study, Conservation and Restoration of Saint Vincent Panels’. A mobile EZRaman-I dual Raman analyser (785 and 532 nm) was used during the opening hours of the museum to investigate the panels and their pigments. The polyptych was heavily varnished and as such, the 785 nm laser was preferred for the characterization. It proved to be efficient in characterizing most of the pigments: vermilion, lead tin yellow type I, lazurite, carbon black, gypsum, lead white and calcite were identified. Intervention areas were characterized by the presence of titanium dioxide. Only for a few colours (blue, pink/purple and green), identification with the 785 nm laser was ambiguous and additional characterization with the 532 nm laser was hampered by the strong fluorescing varnish. As a result, micro-samples of these regions were collected for further analysis with benchtop micro-Raman instrumentation. Next to the confirmation of the in situ results, azurite and copper resinate were identified. As such, the combination of both approaches was successful in unravelling the colour palette of the Saint Vincent panels.

This study offers fresh insights into the technical and stylistic exchanges between Flemish and Portuguese panel painting during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. By comparing two contemporaneous works, we trace Flemish influence in Portugal through a detailed materials and techniques analysis. Non-invasive, in situ methods—including energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF), macro-photography (MP), infrared reflectography (IRR), and dendrochronology—were used to examine each painting’s wooden support, ground layer, underdrawing, and pigment stratigraphy. Select micro-sampling analyses—micro-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and micro-Raman spectroscopy (µ-Raman)—provided complementary data on binder and pigment composition. While both paintings share nearly identical pigments and layering sequences and employ comparable coating techniques, their ground compositions differ subtly. Notably, the Flemish work features extensive gold-leaf application, whereas underdrawing execution takes on principal importance in the Portuguese example. Together, these findings reveal that Jorge Afonso’s workshop developed a distinct Portuguese method—rooted in Flemish practices disseminated by Quentin Metsys—yet adapted to local materials and aesthetic priorities.

In 1949, Almada Negreiros painted at the maritime station of Rocha do Conde de & Oacute;bidos, in Lisbon, six monumental mural paintings, which are considered as his highest artistic achievement. On these paintings, he resorted to a bright colourful palette, which needs to be studied to support conservation and preservation of these artworks for future generations. Among the pigments under study within project ALMADA, the identification of the green samples is the most challenging, as Almada Negreiros seems to have explored different hues by using simultaneously inorganic (e.g., emerald green, Scheele's green and viridian) as well as organo-synthetic pigments that were rather unusual when employing a traditional mural painting technique (e.g., PG7 and PG8). Moreover, he seems to have admixed white (e.g., titanium white) or blue pigments (e.g., ultramarine) to modify the hues. The different colourants found, as well as the use of mixtures of pigments, hints that Almada Negreiros was keen on experimenting and applying relatively novel painting materials. Raman spectroscopy, given its ability to identify inorganic as well as organic components, is a key analytical tool to discriminate between all these compounds. The findings were also supported by complimentary analytical techniques, including colourimetry, handheld X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (h-XRF) and micro-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (mu-FT-IR). Identification of the green pigments by Raman spectroscopy is, however, not always straightforward, and it is demonstrated how changes in relative band intensities and band broadening can point to mixtures, where the Raman spectral features of some compounds can easily be overseen in the spectrum. Green paint samples from the monumental wall paintings at the Lisbon Maritime Station were examined. Almada Negreiros seems to have created different hues by using inorganic (e.g., emerald green, Scheele's green and viridian) as well as organo-synthetic pigments (e.g., PG7 and PG8). Identification of the green pigments is not always straightforward with Raman spectroscopy, and it is demonstrated how changes in relative band intensities and band broadening can point to mixtures. image

The Vice-Roy's Portraits Gallery hosted at the Old Goa Museum of the Archaeological Survey of India in Goa, India, is a unique panel painting collection, spanning from the 16th till the 18th centuries, and representing the Portuguese Viceroys and Governors who administrated the Portuguese provinces in the coastal region of the Indian Ocean. During the Old Goa Revelations project (a collaborative interinstitutional consortium between Evora University HERCULES Lab, Lisbon University Fine Arts Faculty, Archaeological Survey of India and Ghent University), this important collection of panel paintings was examined in-situ using a non-invasive approach with mobile analytical instrumentation. Next to a series of imaging techniques, point analysis has been performed, using both, elemental and molecular spectroscopic methods. On the one hand, handheld X-ray fluorescence analysis and macro X-ray fluorescence imaging was used to obtain the elemental composition and its distribution on pictorial support, while on the other hand mobile Raman spectroscopy was implemented to obtain molecular information. These non-invasive techniques were used to determine the composition of the paint layers and to study the different treatments (e.g. overpainting, changes in compositions, etc.) that the artworks have witnessed since their creation. (c) 2024 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

This paper is dedicated to the research undertaken to discover the original portrait of Afonso de Albuquerque from the Viceroys Gallery of Goa. Following a previous research which confirmed that the portrait exhibited at the National Museum of Ancient Art, in Lisbon is, in fact, the result of successive interventions over another Governor’s painting, the question arose whether the original portrait still existed among the remaining collection, in Goa. In the context of the project Old Goa Revelations, where a team of Portuguese and Indian researchers carried out, for the first time, a joint scientific study on portraits from this collection, it was possible to collect new data in this regard. Indeed, associating the results from multianalytical and multispectral examinations with historical and iconographic sources, the location of the lost portrait was finally revealed. It was discovered that the panel had been reused for the depiction of a later Governor.

The panel depicting The Descent from the Cross, painted in 1620 by the Portuguese artist Pedro Nunes (1586-1637), shows a clear Italian formal influence. The painter’s colour palette was identified in another paper. The panel is now investigated from a technical perspective, discussing aspects related to the support, preparatory system, and paint layer build-up. The research is based on the visual inspection of the painting’s surface with complementary imaging techniques and on the analysis of the materials from the preparatory layers with microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The characterisation of the painting technique revealed an ingenious use of colour that is based on the understanding of the optical and handling properties of oil paint. This knowledge is illustrated by the painter’s ability to exploit and combine a range of different oil painting techniques, such as glazing, scumbling, wet-in-wet, or wet-in-dry painting; by his formulation of a wide variety of pigment mixtures; and by his use of diverse and often complex layering systems - some quite unconventional for Portuguese painting practice. The material and technical originality of this painting clearly reflects Nunes’ international Roman experience and his desire to update the Portuguese mainstream practice of his time.

ABSTRACT The palette used by the Portuguese painter Pedro Nunes (1586–1637) in the large panel depicting The Descent from the Cross (460 × 304 cm) painted in 1620 for Évora’s cathedral was investigated with a combination of the visual inspection of the paint surface and the analysis of the paint layers with microscopic, spectroscopic, and chromatographic techniques. Green earth and an orange artificial arsenic sulphide, two pigments identified for the first time in Portuguese paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were found to be abundantly used in large areas of the composition. The results further reveal the choice of a rich palette also containing lead-white, lead-tin yellow, ochre, vermilion, verdigris, smalt, azurite, vegetable carbon black, and a red lake made of brazilwood and cochineal. All the pigments were bound in an oil-based medium. The introduction of two pigments new to the Portuguese conventional palette is a direct consequence of the painter’s training in Rome in the first decade of the seventeenth century.

This paper presents a summary of the results obtained in the first approach ever made to the characterization of the materials and techniques used in the oil painting production by António Carneiro (1872–1930), one of the best portuguese painters in the transition from the 19th to the 20th centuries. A selection of ten oils on canvas belonging to the Municipality of Oporto were analysed using a set of non-invasive techniques: Infrared Reflectography, Ultraviolet Fluorescence Photography, X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The results obtained suggest the use of materials and techniques established in Europe at the turn of the century. The palette is composed of Pb, Zn, Hg, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Co-based pigments, associated with both traditional and recently introduced materials. The great missing element is Ti, associated with Titanium White, available on the market since 1918.

The examination with infrared reflectography of the Annunciation and the Adoration of the Shepherds, two panels from a dismembered altarpiece attributed to the mannerist painter Francisco João (doc. 1558–1595), revealed the first documented example in Portuguese painting of the overlapping of two underdrawing layouts, each with a different subject, in a single panel painting. The paintings were examined under visible radiation and infrared reflectography was used to investigate the underdrawing in terms of the materials, graphic layout and function. Results from a previous study on the ground layers and underdrawing materials of these paintings, obtained with the analysis of micro-samples with microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, were used in the context of this research. Infrared images revealed that the underdrawing of the Annunciation mostly corresponded to the painted image but that two subjects — Annunciation and Adoration — were drawn over the prepared surface of the panel depicting the Adoration. This discovery is the first example of this procedure in Portuguese painting. The comparison with a third panel attributed to the painter, depicting another version of the Annunciation, allowed for the discussion of relevant technical procedures such as the use of cartoons, the responsibility for each main stage of painting creation and the reality of labour conditions in a regional market. The results contributed with material evidence to the scarce information of archival nature about the working methods of Portuguese mannerist painters.

This paper reports the preliminary diagnostic survey of the six controversial mural paintings painted in 1946–49 at the Maritime Station of Rocha do Conde de Óbidos in Lisbon, considered the artistic epitome of Almada Negreiros mural painting art. Four research questions drove this research: a) What are the main decay phenomena present and their sources? b) Which are the paint layers most affected, and are they linked to a particular pigment? c) Is there any relation between the painting technique used and the deterioration or stability of the paint layers and pigments? And finally, d) Are there differences in the decay phenomena present in both maritime stations of Alcântara? The analytical setup comprised in-situ and laboratory analysis by way of technical photography documentation (TP), handled optical microscopy (h-OM), handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), complemented by optical microscopy of microfragments and cross sections (OM-Vis-UV), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS).The first results indicate flaking of the paint layers as the main and most severe deterioration feature present in most of the murals. The yellow ochres, browns, blacks, and light greens are the colours most affected, showing different degrees of loss. The pictorial technique used, the presence and action of soluble salts in the structure, and even the products used as adhesives during past interventions might be the root of this phenomenon.

The paint materials and techniques of The Descent from Cross, a panel painting attributed to the Portuguese painter Francisco João (act. 1558–1595), were investigated with a combination of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared imaging and an analysis of paint samples with microscopic, spectroscopic, and chromatographic techniques. The colour palette is composed of lead white, lead–tin yellow, minium, vermilion, ochres of different colours, umber, smalt, azurite, verdigris, charcoal black, and a variety of different-coloured red lakes made of brazilwood and cochineal. An oil-based medium was identified. The characterisation of the pigment mixtures, paint build-up, and particular paint handling techniques enabled us to determine their role in the style and formal appearance of this painting and to discuss Portuguese painting practices in the larger context of 16th-century European painting. Mineral and elemental associations or impurities in the blue pigments, as well as degradation issues affecting minium, and smalt paints were reported. In particular, the deterioration of the glass matrix in some of the smalt particles mixed in lead white paint raises special concern.

The National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon (MNAA) hosts the most important Portuguese public collection of art. Among its different types of artworks, a set of six Chinese wallpaper panels from the eighteenth century is present; they represent the production of porcelain and have been donated to the Museum in 1949. Despite the large interest that has raised around these kinds of artefacts, few technical studies have been carried out to date on Chinese wallpapers. In this study, a non-invasive investigation of the wallpaper panels from the MNAA by means of portable devices is described. More specifically, the combined use of technical photography (namely UVF, Vis and IR photography), Vis-NIR-FORS and EDXRF allowed to carry out a preliminary diagnostic survey, which higlighted an improper handling of the wallpapers prior to their donation to the Museum, and poor conservation conditions of the paper sheets. Furthermore, it allowed for the identification of the painting technique, the main pigments, and their distribution; the presence of inorganic pigments (such as vermilion and lead white) and organic dyes (e.g. anthraquinone-based red dyes and indigo), used both as overlapping layers and mixtures, has been determined.

Four panel paintings depicting episodes related to the birth of Christ and attributed to the Portuguese mannerist painter Francisco Joao (doc. 1558-1585) were found to exhibit a muted palette that had no correspondence with the traditionally vivid colors used in the sixteenth century to represent joyful biblical events. Complementing previous research on the disruption and loss of the red glazes in these paintings, the investigation focused on the analysis of materials, painting technique and degradation issues that further affected the original paintings, changing the viewer's perception and understanding of these artworks. The investigation combined the visual examination of the painting surface with microscopic and spectroscopic analysis of the binder and pigments. A conventional palette made of lead white, lead-tin yellow, ochres, vermilion, verdigris, smalt, azurite, carbon black and a red lake made of brazilwood and cochineal was identified. The pigments were bound in an oil-based medium. Chemical and physical alterations detected in paints rich in smalt and verdigris were found to be responsible for color changes affecting significant areas of the compositions. The presence of moisture and the reaction between pigment and binder leading, among other products, to soap and oxalate formation, played a central role in the long-term behavior of the paint film. Understanding the main degradation processes involved and their consequences is crucial when interpreting an artists' color palette and designing the best approach to preserve these paintings.

The painting The Descent from the Cross, painted in 1620 by Pedro Nunes (1586–1637), presents two large figures with orange-coloured fabrics with conservation problems. Through the analysis of two samples with several analytical techniques, especially scanning electron microscopy combined with X-ray spectroscopy and Raman microscopy, it was possible to conclude that the orange colour is due to a complex artificial pigment made of amorphous arsenic sulphide. It essentially consists of spherical particles obtained by sublimation and condensation, possibly from orpiment, which ended up being joined with irregularly shaped particles resulting from crushing of the residual fraction obtained by solidification and fusion. This is a rare documented case of the extensive use of artificial arsenic sulphides in European easel painting, especially outside Italy. The conservation problems can be explained by the great sensitivity of the arsenic sulphides to photodegradation and the formation of powdery compounds.