CHED 31 |
| As a four-week capstone project in a chemical instrumentation course, chemistry majors analyzed a painting which was introduced as “The Angel with the Golden Hair”, a 12th century Russian icon painting from the Novgorod School. Unbeknownst to the students, the painting was a well-designed reproduction. The overall objective of the project was for students to determine the chemical composition of the painting and to establish the presence or absence of anachronisms. Prior to initiating work on the painting, students provided a detailed proposal of the chemical and instrumental methods used for analysis based on the anticipated composition of the painting. The instrumentation employed for the analysis of the binder and ground was GC-MS and FTIR-ATR. PLM and EDXRF were used to identify pigments. Binder and ground materials were found to be consistent with those expected for an icon painting, however, pigment anachronisms were identified from the analysis. |
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Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences (CWCS)
1:30 PM-5:15 PM, Sunday, August 19, 2007 Seaport -- Constitution Room, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |