António Carneiro’s Painting Collection from the Municipality of Oporto. Study and Conservation in the 150th Anniversary of the Painter’s Birth

Abstract

This paper presents a summary of the results obtained in the first approach ever made to the characterization of the materials and techniques used in the oil painting production by António Carneiro (1872–1930), one of the best portuguese painters in the transition from the 19th to the 20th centuries. A selection of ten oils on canvas belonging to the Municipality of Oporto were analysed using a set of non-invasive techniques: Infrared Reflectography, Ultraviolet Fluorescence Photography, X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The results obtained suggest the use of materials and techniques established in Europe at the turn of the century. The palette is composed of Pb, Zn, Hg, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Co-based pigments, associated with both traditional and recently introduced materials. The great missing element is Ti, associated with Titanium White, available on the market since 1918.