X-ray fluorescence gives new insight into Leonardo Da Vinci's painting technique

X-ray fluorescence has provided new information on the technique known as "sfumato", which Da Vinci and other Renaissance painters used to produce delicate gradations in tones or colors across the canvas. Dr. P. Walter (Laboratoire du Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France, CNRS, France) and his colleagues recently performed quantitative chemical analysis on seven paintings from the Louvre Museum (including the Mona Lisa), by synchrotron X-ray fluorescence at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). They were able to clarify how the painter made shadows on faces by the use of layers of glaze or a very thin paint, and by means of the nature of the pigments or additives. For more information, see the paper, "Revealing the sfumato Technique of Leonardo da Vinci by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy", L. de Viguerie et al., Angewandte Chemie International Edition (Published Online: Jul 14 2010, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201001116).