examination to establish the Raphael
Examination of the painting "Madonna of the Carnation", housed in London's National Gallery, dispelling doubts that its author - Raphael, reports The Times.
Since part of the fabric, a hidden frame, samples were taken, their analysis showed that the picture could not be fake, made in the XIX century, as some experts. In particular, in the primer pigment found "cvintsovo-tin yellow, recipe production of which was lost in the XVII century. In addition, the researchers examined the gray-silver paint on the sleeve of Madonna. It was found that the pigment was based on bismuth, it is known that it was used rarely, but they enjoyed Raphael.
"Madonna of the Carnation" for a long time kept in the collection of the Duke of Northumbrian and was considered a copy of a lost original. However, in 1991 Nicholas Penny (Nicholas Penny), now the director of the National Gallery, thought it original. It was held infrared scanning, whereby a layer of paint was found drawing, characteristic of Raphael. In addition, it turned out that the artist changed the initial plan, it is unlikely that would happen if he was a copyist.
However, this did not satisfy the skeptics, and to take samples from a picture of the National Gallery could not, because she could not control. In early 2000, Duke decided to sell the picture of the American Museum of the Getty, but the British government blocked the deal to allow the National Gallery to collect the necessary sum. As a result, in 2004, the museum has collected 22 million pounds, and the government refused to take a seller's tax of 12 million pounds to "Madonna of the Carnation" remained in the UK.
Raphael will be the central exhibit of the exhibition Close Examination, which opens in the gallery on June 30. It will display works that are using scientific methods could distinguish them from counterfeits.
http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/06/15/raphael/