Pigment production processes, whether historical or modern industrial, can be specific to a particular period and region, and distinguishing between them can therefore be useful in determining the provenance of works of art. However, it is not enough to blindly collect detailed analytical data without knowing what you are looking for. Experimental research and replication of production processes in laboratory conditions are often necessary in order to obtain a reference product and describe its characteristic features, which can then be used to identify it in paintings. These may include by-products of production, characteristic additives, residues of unreacted starting materials, or the typical morphology of the resulting particles. For example, we have described mine green – a copper pigment precipitated from mine water, which replaced natural malachite in paintings, especially in the 15th to 17th centuries. Otheryise, following Cassio's original 17th-century procedure, we produced a purple pigment based on gold nanoparticles approximately 10 nm in size, which was still used by miniaturists in the 19th century according to our discovery.
A specific topic is modern industrially produced paints, which are always multi-component mixtures prepared in series with precise proportions of the ingredients supplied. For painters, these paints are actually semi-finished products, and it is necessary to monitor the preferences of individual painters in their choice of suppliers and also the methods of mixing these paints – their typical palettes. Therefore, it is always a good opportunity to analyze paints used by an artist if they are still available in remnants – as in the case of the important Norwegian painter Harriet Backer (1845–1932). In the case of Edvard Munch (1863–1944) and František Kupka (1871–1957), it was possible to verify the limits of analytical methods for researching modern paintings on a broader set of works.
Recent publications:
Žůrková, M., Hradil, D., Hradilová, J., Bezdička, P., & Švarcová, S.: “Hungarian Mine Green”, a Semi‐Natural Copper Pigment from Banská Bystrica Region (Slovakia)‐Analytical Evidence and Laboratory Replication. ChemPlusChem 90(6) (2025), 2500053. https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.202500053
Čermáková Z., Hradil D., Bezdička P., Hradilová J., Pánová K.: Unique Wood Ash Co-Coloured Glass Tessera from Mediaeval Madonna: Raman Spectroscopic Study of Production Technology. Spectrochimica Acta Part A 303 (2023), 123182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2023.123183
Širillová Z, Hradilová J., Pech M., Švarcová S., Bezdička P., Neděla N., Hradil D.: Gold nanoparticles in painted miniatures on ivory: Non-invasive evidence and characterisation. Dyes and Pigments 210 (2023), 111015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2022.111015
Garrappa S., Frøysaker T.; Streeton Noëlle L.W.; Hradil D.; Platania E.; Beltinger K.; Caruso F.: Micro-spectroscopic study of late 19th and early 20th paint tubes. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 279 (2022) 121414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2022.121414
Košařová V., Hradil D., Hradilová J., Čermáková Z., Němec I., Schreiner M.: The efficiency of micro-Raman spectroscopy in the analysis of complicated mixtures in modern paints: Munch’s and Kupka’s paintings under study. Spectrochimica Acta – Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 156 (2016), 36-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2015.11.027
Top cited:
Hradil D., Grygar T., Hradilová J., Bezdička P., Grűnwaldová V., Fogaš I., Miliani C.: Microanalytical identification of Pb-Sb-Sn yellow pigment in historical European paintings and its differentiation from lead tin and Naples yellows. Journal of Cultural Heritage 8/4 (2007), 377-386. DOI: 10.1016/j.culher.2007.07.001 (83 citations)
