Characterization of the deterioration of bone black in the 17th century Oranjezaal paintings using electron-microscopic and micro-spectroscopic imaging techniques

A whitish deterioration product was observed on the dark paint in a number of large-scale oil paintings that are part of the Oranjezaal interior decoration in the Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch (The Hague). The whitened areas of a painting by Pieter Soutman dating from 1648 were micro-sampled and compared with "healthy" black paint using different analytical imaging techniques. The dark paint was identified as bone black in linseed oil with a lead drier added. Microscopic images of the cross-section revealed a white top layer of 10-20µm in the black paint layer. Imaging the cross-section surface with scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and specular reflection Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) showed homogeneous distributions of phosphate, phosphorus and calcium over the black and the white degraded bone black. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed the presence of calcium phosphate hydrate (Ca₃(PO₄)₂·xH₂O), monetite (CaHPO₄) with possibly some poorly crystalline or amorphous hydroxyapatite (Ca₅(OH)(PO₄)₃). The EDX maps of lead and carbon, however, showed some discontinuity between the degraded and non-degraded bone black. There was an increase in the lead concentration in the white top layer, and a slight decrease of carbon. Transmission FTIR demonstrated that aromatic network polymers from the carbon black are markedly diminished in the white deterioration product.