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Lead Isotope project Lead white has been used as an artist’s pigment since antiquity. It is present in almost every painting throughout the centuries and has only recently been replaced by other white pigments. It has been possible for some years to identify trace elements contained in the lead white and to categorize the different lead isotopes. There has been little comparative research done in this area. These variations can be linked to particular locations and time periods, which would hopefully lead us to the original sources for the different lead whites. The main focus of the project will be on the use, distribution and availability of lead white to artists and artist’s suppliers in the North and South concentrating on the use of lead white in the Flemish and Italian Schools of the 17th c. with particular emphasis on the artist P. P. Rubens and his contemporaries. The Flemish painter Pieter Paul Rubens traveled extensively during his long career as an artist. Many of his important works of art were commissioned by the great European courts and executed during his well documented travel periods. The comparison between the working technique and the choice of materials in Rubens’ studio in Antwerp and during his periods of travel abroad carries great potential to gain more insight into the studio practice of the time. Since there has been surprisingly little technical and analytical research on this important artist, we have been encouraged to further investigate and follow up our initial research. The
questions raised focus not only on a particular artist’s
working habits, but more specifically on the origins of the
pigments (where they were mined and manufactured into pigments)
and the ensuing trade routes. Publication 2010: |
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Zurich
/ Staefa (Switzerland) - Tel.:+41 (0)44 926 80 26
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