Taking Different Forms: Metal Soaps in Paintings, Diagnosis of Condition, and Issues for Treatment

Abstract

This chapter introduces a selection of case studies of paintings that present a range of physical manifestations of metal soaps. The phenomena include surface spots, crusts, delamination, and textural features. The role of metal soaps in water-sensitive modern oil paints is introduced. Inferences based on a combination of technical and analytical evidence together with information about the history and context of the works are presented with hypotheses about the causes of metal soap formation or deterioration. Approaches to treatment of the works are introduced in a discussion of aesthetic, ethical, and practical options that address particular phenomena.