A Study of the Materials of Pontormo's “Portrait of Alessandro de' Medici”

ABSTRACTIn studies of the materials of old master paintings, the characterization of thin and degraded layers often presents unusual challenges for routinely used methods of analysis. This paper discusses analyses performed as part of a study of the materials and techniques of Pontormo's “Portrait of Alessandro de’ Medici” (1534–5) carried out during a recent cleaning and restoration of the painting. Pontormo built up the portrait using a complex sequence of preparation, drawing and paint layers, the analysis of which was complicated further in some areas by the presence of degraded materials on the paint surface. The materials used for the various stages of preparation and painting were characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS), Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The focus of this paper will be the particular approaches taken to the characterization of the preparation layers and degraded surface materials.