Lead–Tin–Antimony Yellow - Historical Manufacture, Molecular Characterization and Identification in Seventeenth-Century Italian Paintings

Abstract

The recent identification of a lead-tin-antimony yellow, very similar to lead-tin yellow type II and lead antimonate yellow, and the coincidence in the use of these artificial pigments in seventeenth-century Italian paintings, has revived interest in the manufacture and historical use of these pigments, the evolution of their chemical composition over time, and their analytical study. This paper presents an account of the historical manufacture of lead-tin-antimony yellow, based on the study of Italian glass-industry manuscripts dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The use of this pigment in paintings, as reported by other authors, is also described. Finally, the molecular characterization of this ternary oxide of lead-tin-antimony by Raman spectroscopy is presented, through the analysis of reference compounds manufactured according to the theoretical pyrochlore formula and historical recipes. Spectra obtained for the reference compounds are in good agreement with those obtained for yellow pigments in seventeenth-century Italian paintings, in particular in works by Giovanni Battista Langetti and Luca Giordano.

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