Leseprobe

141 Reitschuler “Painted with Its Natural Colors”. Considerations on Painted Gold and Silver in the Collections of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunstkammer at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum presents around 2200 objects from the early Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, including several works of gold- smiths’ art that feature paint. After a close examination of the entire collection, including the pieces in the museum’s depot, a total of 39 painted works of goldsmiths’ art could be found to include in the research project “Untersuchung von Farbfassungen auf Gold­ schmiedearbeiten” (The Use of Paints on Goldsmiths’ Art). Examination first took place visually and photographically, while samples were taken for a scientific determination of the binding agent used. Various types of paint applications could be documented in detail capturing images with a digital Hirox-3D microscope. As an additional aid, UV fluorescent light was used to identify resin-bound layers and coats of paint. In the framework of the research project, the attempt was made to contextualize the objects in question and to categorize the kinds of painting into four types. 1. Simple painting of figures that cover artfully executedmetal surfaces and designs like pointillé. 2. Imitations of various techniques of enameling. 3. Painting of high quality in technical and artistic terms that completely covers the metal support. 4. Naturalistic appearing paints on silver life-casts, where the surface structure of the metal cast is maintained. To obtain a more concrete sense of the original color of the objects, detailed photo- graphs were taken of the layers of paint that were intended to provide the impression of color intensity through the changing refraction index. A computer reconstruction of the paint was undertaken for two objects, to show the original extent of the painted areas. Complementing these visual methods of study, the composition of the binding agents was studied using GC-MS. The result of scientific analyses shows that the various layers of paint are either pure resin, pure oil, resin oil, or egg tempera. The analysis results were compared with recipes fromold source manuscripts. Perhaps oil-resin varnishes were used that were common in paintings since the early Renaissance and available at apothecaries and pharmacies. It can also be assumed that several painted areas were executed in egg tempera. The evidence of various systems of binding agents on the same objects supports the observation of various categories of painting. No additional temporal, artistic, or geo- graphical classification was undertaken.