Colorando Auro: contribution to the understanding of a medieval recipe to colour gilded silver plates

The colour of gildings can be modified by many artistic techniques. This article refers to the possibility of a specific chemical treatment to change the colour of gildings. The model samples—gilded silver plate, the mixture and the application of a medieval recipe based on ancient writings from Theophilius and Cellini have been described. We propose a strategy to identify the chemical processes involved in the change of colour of the metallic surface through the advanced study of these model samples. Synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy were carried out both on the gilding with and without the application of the treatment with the aim to understand the chemical reactions occurring during the treatment.

Publication year:2013

Keywords:colorando auro, gilded silver