Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder from the National Museum in Warsaw New Technological Analysis
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Keywords

Lucas Cranach the Elder
early modern German painting
technological analysis of artworks
physical and chemical analysis of artworks
Adam and Eve
National Museum in Warsaw
spectroscopy (XRF, reflectance FTIR, FTIR-ATR)
chromatography (GC/MS, LC/MS)
Raman microscopy
non-destructive methods

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How to Cite

Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder from the National Museum in Warsaw New Technological Analysis. (2025). Rocznik Muzeum Narodowego W Warszawie. Nowa Seria Journal of the National Museum in Warsaw. New Series, 13(49), 255-289. https://doi.org/10.63538/rmnwns.013.14

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the latest technological research on Lucas Cranach the Elder’s painting Adam and Eve from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. The tests were conducted using non-destructive or micro-invasive physical and chemical methods. The painting was analysed under analytical radiation within ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), infrared (IR) and X-ray (X-ray, CT) wavelength ranges. To examine the composition of the paint layers, the authors employed X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS), liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS), Raman microscopy, as well as microchemical and stratigraphic analyses. These tests enabled a highly detailed identification of the painting technique, facilitated a comparison with Lucas Cranach the Elder’s other works and provided a solid basis for a more in-depth argument regarding the painting’s creation date.

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References

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Copyright (c) 2024 Tomasz Gierczak, Aleksandra Janiszewska-Cardone, Justyna Kwiatkowska, Elżbieta Pilecka-Pietrusińska, Olga Syta, Barbara Wagner, Bartłomiej Witkowski, Magdalena Wróbel-Szypula (Autor)