TECHNICAL STUDIES

IN THE FIELD OF THE FINE AI\. TS

Published for the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chairman of tlze- Advisory Committee: EDWARD W. FoRBES
Managing Editor: GEORGE L. STOUT Business Managen W. BuFFUM
;Editot"s: ALAN BuRROUGHS and RuTHERFORD J. GETTE.NS
Advisory Committee
\V. G. CoNSTABLE, Courtauld Institute, University of Londort
C. T. CuRRELL.Y, Royal Ontario Museum
AI.EXANDER EIBNER, Research Institut.e for the Technique of Painting, Technical
High School, Munich
PAUL GANZ, University of Basel
A. P. LAURIE, Royal Academy of Arts, London
DENMAN W. Ross, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Harvard University
ALEXANDER ScoTT, Research Laboratory, British London
DANIEL V. THOMPSON, JR., Research Fellow of the American Council of Learned
Societies '
HENRI VERNE, National Museums of France and School of the Louvre -..:
of the Advisory Committee gi':'e aid but are not responsible for the conduct
of fECHNICAL STUDIES. Office of Pubhcatlon, Prmce and Lemon Sts., Lancaster, Pa. The
Editors should be addressed at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.;
the Business Manager at Prince and Lemon Sts., Lancaster, Pa., or 6 54 Madison Ave., New York
Volume II January, 1934 Number 3
1
CONTENTS
Something about Pastel Technic and its Perman.ence
WALTER BECK I 19
Notes on rthe l\1edium of Flemish Painters ...... A. P. LAURIE 124
Notes on the Experi1nental Studies Made for the Prevention of
Mold Growth on Mural Paintings ........ ARAM H. HATCH 129
Early Restorations of Mediaeval Enamels
MARVIN CHAUNCEY Ross 139
A Chemical Investigation of an Alleged Ancient Greek Bronze
Statuette. ... o .... 0 ,. o. 0 EARLE R. CALEY 144
Notes
Dammat as a Picture Varnish ..... , ...... " .... MAXIMILIAN TocH 149
Ultra-Violet Rays as Aids to Restorers ........ R. ARcAmus LvoN t 53
Trisodium Phosphate Solutions Attack Marble ... ARTHUR H. KoPP 158
Book Reviews ............. ... .. 0 0 159
Abstracts, .................... . . . .... .. . . ..... : . . . . . . . . . . 160
Application for entry as second-class matter at Lancaster, Pa., post office, pending.
Copyright, 1934, Fogg Art Museum .. Made in United States of America.
Issued quarterly $4.00 a year $1.25 a copy :
Canada, $4.'15 a year Foreign, $4.50 year
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ULTRA-VIOLET RAYS AS AIDS TO RESTORERS
It is not 1ny intention to delve into the technical side of the ultra-
violet rays, but rather to show the practical use of them to the restorer;
under certain conditions they are efficacious as indicators of the _
amount of previous restoration one n1ay encounter on the painting
under examination. The use of the ultra-violet _rays is many times re-
stricted, however, by a too heavy layer of varnish. The fluorescence of
the varnish in these cases is so active that one can not see the true
condition of the paint film. It is to be admitted that the trained eye
can in most cases detect former restorations, but the eye does not keep
a permanent record of what it sees. The photographic plate does make
a record of the greatest value for the trained or for the inexperienced
workers in this field. If surface conditions permit of obtaining such a
record, it moreover, help to show an owneror the actual
state of the painting at. that time. Ultra-violet rays, Roe_ntgen rays,
and chemical analyses are aids which no can afford to thrust
lightly aside. The Roentgen rays are useful in\ the determination of
authorship and as"indicators of the extent of damages under the re-
painted areas, but they/ do not always give acclirate indications of the
extent of the Many times the glazes, which hide the original
paint, have not enough.opacity to record on the sensitive film used in
making the radiographs. It is thus to be seen that these scientific aids
are not infallible, can only be successfully used .in conjunction with
the trained eye.
Color filters, such as are used in the four-color reproduction proc-
ess, are of great value in obtaining a better record of the Jluorescence
paintings by ultra-violet light. The following description
and illustrations will show the value of the color filter for photography
under the ultra-violet rays, as well as for exposures made with in-
candescent light. Panchromatk plates were used with one exception.
A Corex (\., red-purple filter was used on the lamp.
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FIGURE I. A portrait of a pope attributed to Girolamo Genga (Fogg Art Museum, No.
19J2.62). .
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154 'liECJ?NICAI .. STUDIES
The painting which is shown in the illustrations is attri but eel to
Girolamo Genga (1476-ISSI), U1nbrian School, and is part of the
Fogg Museum collection (No. I9J'2.62). The halftone reproduction
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FIGURE '2. Fluorescence in a detail of the Genga portrait, photographed on a par speed
plate.
(Figure 1) is from a photograph ofthe painting under incandescent
light before any cleaning had been undertaken_. The retouchings are
so skillfully done that they are hardly visible to the eye, and the
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NoTES
ISS
_values are so closely 1natched that even the sensitive plate of the
camera does not record them-a deceptive type of restoration which
is preferred by many collectors.
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FIGURE 3 The same area as that shown in Figure 2, and also under ultra-violet light,
but photographed with a red :filter on the camera, and with a panchromatic :film.
When the painting was placed under the ultra-violet rays, the res-
torations were plainly seen as they had taken on a deep, neutralized;
blue-violet tone. The original paint film retained its local color to a
I 56 'fECHNICAL STUDIES
great degree, except for a slight fluorescence due to the thin filn1 of
surface varnish 'which been extended over the whole painting.
The dark tone of the fluorescence seemed to indicate that no color

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FIGURE 4 The lower half of the Genga portrait photographed like the detail in Figure 3
filter would be needed and accordingly an exposure was made on a
panchromatic film with practically no result as far as recording the
definite demarcation of the restqrations. A par speed plate next
used in order to check the effect of the fluorescence upon this type qf
plate which is practically color-blind.
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157
Figure 2 will show the result obtained; the arrow points to light
areas which have reversed their tonal value. Under the ultra-violet
rays they appeared a dark blue-violet, although not so mqch neutral-
ized as n1ost of the other restorations. This reversal clearly indicated
that by using the red color filter the blue tones would be recorded dark
on the panchron1atic film. Figure 3 shows same area photographed
under the ultra-violet rays with the red filter . before the lens. The
dark tones of the fluorescence are now recorded in their proper tonal
value as seen by the eye the painting is exposed to the ultra-
violet ra_ys. The reversal of the light spots indicated by the arrow in
Figure 2 is to be noticed. Figure 4 shows the lower half of the painting
and is a vivid exampleof fluorescence excited by the ultra-violet rays.
Perha,ps a word here as to exposures inay help some worker in
making this type of record. First, he must be sure to sharply focus the
image with. the diaphragm wide open, and to stop it down to not
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more thanf I r, for the more open the diaphragm, the more contrast
to the exposure. A well stopped-down wili give detail in the
. lights as as the shadows but the. resultingnegative will lack the
contrast which is obtained by the first type o(exposure. Timing will
have to by the amount of light whlch the diaphragm lets
through, no matter what type of light is used. A- contrasty developer
will also be found: to be of great aid in this
1
work because it will
increase the contrast in the film and if rightly used will not plug the
highlights t.oo muth. A little experience is all tJ\
1
at is needed to obtain
the desired results. R .. i\RCADIUS LYoN
FOGG ART MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
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