Contributos para o estudo da folha de ouro de retábulos Barrocos por microscopia óptica e electrónica

Abstract

The work that has been developed, aims to provide a new approach to Portuguese Baroque altarpieces, by investigating the gold leaf and its elemental characterization. The qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of the samples collected from the main altarpieces of São Bento da Vitória, Santa Clara and São Francisco churches were performed by optical microscopy (OM) of cross-sections using reflected and polarised light and by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in combination with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results provided a new insight into the gilding technique and on the gold leaf composition, namely the presence of a gold/silver/copper alloy and a very pure gold with 22 to 23 gold carat.