Pump-probe imaging of historical pigments used in paintings.

A recently developed nonlinear optical pump-probe microscopy technique uses modulation transfer to sensitively extract excited-state dynamics of endogenous biological pigments, such as eumelanin and pheomelanin. In this work, we use this method to image and characterize several inorganic and organic pigments used in historical art. We show substantial differences in the near-IR pump-probe signatures from nominally similar pigments and suggest extensions to art restoration.

[1]  Haida Liang,et al.  Advances in multispectral and hyperspectral imaging for archaeology and art conservation , 2012 .

[2]  Warren S Warren,et al.  Pump-Probe Imaging Differentiates Melanoma from Melanocytic Nevi , 2011, Science Translational Medicine.

[3]  Mauro Bacci,et al.  NON-DESTRUCTIVE SPECTROSCOPIC DETECTION OF COBALT(II) IN PAINTINGS AND GLASS , 1996 .

[4]  J. Striová,et al.  Confocal Raman microscopy for in depth analysis in the field of cultural heritage , 2011 .

[5]  Warren S Warren,et al.  Probing skin pigmentation changes with transient absorption imaging of eumelanin and pheomelanin. , 2008, Journal of biomedical optics.

[6]  C. Fotakis,et al.  Nonlinear imaging microscopy techniques as diagnostic tools for art conservation studies. , 2008, Optics letters.

[7]  M. Walton,et al.  Characterization of lapis lazuli pigments using a multitechnique analytical approach: implications for identification and geological provenancing. , 2009, Analytical chemistry.

[8]  Gunay Yurtsever,et al.  Two-color, two-photon, and excited-state absorption microscopy. , 2007, Journal of biomedical optics.

[9]  R. Withnall,et al.  Non-destructive pigment analysis of artefacts by Raman microscopy , 1992 .

[10]  Piotr Targowski,et al.  Optical Coherence Tomography: its role in the non-invasive structural examination and conservation of cultural heritage objects—a review , 2012 .

[11]  Costas Fotakis,et al.  Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks , 2005 .

[12]  G. Smith,et al.  The presence of trapped carbon dioxide in lapis lazuli and its potential use in geo-sourcing natural ultramarine pigment , 2009 .