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Le Gac A, Nogueira ID, Guerra M, et al. Microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy analyses for assessment of gilding and silvering techniques of Portuguese illuminated manuscripts. Microsc Microanal. 2015;21(1):20-55doi: 10.1017/S1431927614013646.
Le Gac, A., Nogueira, I. D., Guerra, M., Frade, J. C., Longelin, S., Manso, M., Pessanha, S., Seruya, A. I., & Carvalho, M. L. (2015). Microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy analyses for assessment of gilding and silvering techniques of Portuguese illuminated manuscripts. Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada, 21(1), 20-55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927614013646
Le Gac, Agnès, et al. "Microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy analyses for assessment of gilding and silvering techniques of Portuguese illuminated manuscripts." Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada vol. 21,1 (2015): 20-55. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927614013646
Le Gac A, Nogueira ID, Guerra M, Frade JC, Longelin S, Manso M, Pessanha S, Seruya AI, Carvalho ML. Microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy analyses for assessment of gilding and silvering techniques of Portuguese illuminated manuscripts. Microsc Microanal. 2015 Feb;21(1):20-55. doi: 10.1017/S1431927614013646. Epub 2015 Jan 16. PMID: 25591998.
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Microsc Microanal. 2015 Feb;21(1):20-55. doi: 10.1017/S1431927614013646. Epub 2015 Jan 16.

Microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy analyses for assessment of gilding and silvering techniques of Portuguese illuminated manuscripts.

Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada

Agnès Le Gac, Isabel D Nogueira, Mauro Guerra, José Carlos Frade, Stéphane Longelin, Marta Manso, Sofia Pessanha, Ana Isabel M Seruya, Maria Luisa Carvalho

Affiliations

  1. 1Departamento Conservação e Restauro, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia,Universidade Nova de Lisboa,2829-516 Caparica,Portugal.
  2. 3Instituto Superior Técnico,Instituto de Ciência e Engenharia de Materiais e Superfícies,Av. Rovisco Pais,1049-001 Lisboa,Portugal.
  3. 2Centro de Física Atómica,Universidade de Lisboa,1649-003 Lisboa,Portugal.
  4. 4CITAR-Centro de Investigação em Ciência e Tecnologia das Artes,Escola das Artes,Centro Regional do Porto da Universidade Católica Portuguesa, 1327,4169-005 Porto,Portugal.

PMID: 25591998 DOI: 10.1017/S1431927614013646

Abstract

The objects of this study are various local charters (cartas de foral, in Portuguese) granted by Dom Manuel I, King of Portugal (1495-1521), which substituted for medieval ones and were intended to achieve an administrative unification. These are luxuriously illuminated manuscripts, and our study aims at obtaining a better understanding of the gilding and silvering techniques applied to the parchments, in which the forais were written, between 1500 and 1520. The combined use of microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy analyses allowed us to identify the vestigial materials used for making the parchments, including products such as salt (NaCl), lime (CaO), pumice stone (SiO2+Al2O3), and chalk (CaCO3). Chalk was employed as a whitening agent to give the parchment its final color and opacity. Shell-gold and shell-silver mixed in with animal glue or gum binding media were directly applied on type 1 and 3 forais, while very thin gold leaves (<1 µm) were applied over lead-based tempera grounds (50-180 µm thick) in type 2 forais. Silver was always employed in its finest form without a further protective layer (thus its recursive state of corrosion), while gold was used in various alloy grades.

Keywords: Illuminated manuscripts

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