In-situ analysis of gold layer and pigments of a pair of 16th century Namban folding screens

Complete text of publication follows. The non-destructive study of a pair of 16th century Japanese folding screens was performed at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga by portable EDXRF. Next, a few number of micro samples was taken and analyzed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopies and optical microscopy. In the 16th century, Portuguese traders reached Japan for the first time, initiating active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West, called Namban Trade. These folding screens, extremely rare, are remaining examples of the Namban genre and are particularly important because they are signed by the painter, Kano Naizen. Historians and curators believed that the paper screens would be covered with gold leaf and then the paint would be applied over it. Conversely, it was discovered that the gold leaf was not applied to all the extension of the screens. Most of the painting, even small figures were performed over the paper, and the gold leaf was applied in the outline.The materials identified, such as gold, malachite, azurite, vermillion, read lead, red madder, yellow ochre, white oyster shell and carbon black are part of the traditional Japanese palette.