Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2019) 134: 262
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2019-12713-0

Regular Article

Characterization of a pair of Goan paintings from the 16th-17th centuries

¹ ARTIS-Instituto História da Arte, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa ARTIS- IHA/FLUL, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214, Lisboa, Portugal
² LIBPhys-UNL, Laboratório de Instrumentação, Engenharia Biomédica e Física da Radiação, Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal
³ Laboratório José de Figueiredo, Direcção-Geral do Património Cultural LJF-DGPC, Rua das Janelas Verdes 37, 1249-018, Lisboa, Portugal
⁴ Laboratório HERCULES, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Largo Marquês de Marialva 8, 7000-676, Évora, Portugal
⁵ Faculdade de Belas-Artes, Universidade de Lisboa, Largo da Academia Nacional de Belas-Artes, 1249-058, Lisboa, Portugal

^* e-mail: vanessahantunes@gmail.com

Received: 13 October 2018
Accepted: 2 May 2019
Published online: 14 June 2019

Abstract

This work addresses the technical and material characterization of a pair of Goan paintings from the end of the 16th century, early 17th century with the aim to understand the influence of European, and specifically Portuguese painting materials and techniques in Goan painting. The painting materials and techniques were studied and compared to other coeval Goan and Portuguese paintings since Goa belonged at the epoch to Portuguese India. The analytical techniques used were Infrared reflectography (IRR), optical microscopy (OM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF), micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), micro-X-ray Diffraction (μ-XRD) and micro-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (μ-FTIR). This multianalytical approach and comparison between paintings technique and materials allowed to define the studied paintings as a Goan style of production in line to European mannerism style.