Fluorescence UV des liants employés dans les dorures sur peintures murales médiévales

Abstract

Paintings of the vault of the old abbey home of Moissac were examined using a UV source. The presence of yellow fiuorescence on the halos figures is an indicator of the presence of historical gilding. Fluorescence of this type, characteristic of an organic binder, was already observed in other sites where traces of gilding are also present. A spectrofiuorimetric study shows that the fiuorescence spectra of the two chemical types of binders most usually used in the technique of gilding are different. To better understand the condition of aged binders, a study of the fiuorescence evolution following accelerated ageing was also carried out.