APPLICATION OF TXRF FOR THE ULTRA MICRO-ANALYSIS OF ARTISTS PIGMENTS

The identification of artists' pigments used for artifacts is required in art historical research and for restoration and conservation purpo ses. The analysis of materials from valuable works of art requires non -destructive methods or at least methods applicable to very small samp les. The extreme sensitivity of TXRF and its experimental simplicity m ake this technique well suited for pigment analysis. When using an ult ra micro method to take samples of less than 1 mu g in weight, TXRF ca n be applied in a practically non-destructive way. For elements with Z > 11, concentration ratio's can be determined accurately and precisely in paint samples of 10-100 ng (standard deviation on 14 replicate ana lyses 4%). Applied to oil paintings, ancient manuscripts, polychrome s culptures, painted leather, etc., TXRF allows most old inorganic pigme nts to be identified based on the presence of one to three key-element s in the pigment. Applications aiming at describing, dating and authen ticating artifacts are discussed. It is shown that TXRF is a useful ad dition to the wide range of scientific methods of analysis available f or the study of artists' pigments.