Document Type
Article
Version
Postprint
Publication Title
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume
109/110
Publication Date
1996
Abstract
This study examines and compares three pieces of Renaissance style gold and enameled jewelry owned by the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD, USA. These are a 16th century Hat Badge of Adam and Eve, a 19th century Fortitude Pendant and a Diana Pendant presumed to be of the 16th century (The Walters Art Gallery, Jewelry, Ancient to Modern (Viking, New York, 1979)), Ref. [1]. PIXE spectroscopy was applied to examine the elemental composition of the gold and of the enamels. Compositional differences, including the use of post-Renaissance colorants, were found between the enamels in separate regions of each of the three pieces. The modern colorant, chromium, was, in fact, found in all of the pieces and uranium was found in only the Diana Pendant. There are some differences in the gold purity of the three objects; there are significant differences in the solders used even within one object, the Fortitude Pendant.
Citation
Weldon, Marianne, Carlson, J., Reedy, S., Swann, C.P. “Application of PIXE to the study of Renaissance style enameled gold jewelry.” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms Vol. 109/110 (1996) 653-657.