This issue features six papers that focus on technical art history. Since such research requires expertise in technical examination and/or scientific analysis methods, it is often led by conservators or conservation scientists. Yet, to be considered as technical art history, rather than simply analytical studies or descriptive technical examinations, the primary goal of collecting the technical and analytical data must be to answer questions of significance to art history. All of the papers in this issue meet such criteria.
Thea Burns and Ashok Roy report the results of elemental analysis, polarized light microscopy, and microchemical testing to identify pigments in a set of pastels from a box known to have belonged to Elizabeth Cay (1771-1831), an amateur pastel painter in Edinburgh. They propose that pastel paintings executed with powdered pigments applied by stump and/or brush may well be a more common historical practice than previously realized. They also use their in-depth research into Elizabeth Cay's body of work to explore the context and methods of “amateur” painters of her day, bringing this genre into greater art historical awareness.
Anabelle Križnar brings a wide variety of analytical methods to bear on wall painting cycles by the workshop of Frederic of Villach, a fifteenth-century Austrian painter who was considered a master of fresco technique. Plasters and pigments are analyzed, both to gain a broader knowledge of the painting techniques employed by this workshop, and also to compare these paintings with a group of wall paintings in Slovenia which are stylistically related. She is able to identify three groups based on the technical data, propose artistic connections and relationships, and compare these works to other mural paintings in Austria and Slovenia of the same period.
The next two papers (by Maninder Singh Gill, Carolina Priego Rendo, and Sreekumar Menon, on materials and techniques of early Buddhist wall paintings and sculptures at the Sumda Chun temple complex in Ladakh; and by Lei Yong and Wang Shiwei on the wall paintings at Xialu Temple, Tibet Autonomous Region, China) provide previously-scarce technical data to examine the art history of Tibetan temple complexes. Gill and colleagues are able to address questions of age and production technology of Western Tibetan twelfth/early thirteenth century paintings and sculptures, and place works of the Sumda Chun complex in context with other Western Tibetan Buddhist complexes. Lei and Wang use a variety of analytical methods to study pigments, binding media, and preparation layers at Xialu, one of the most important Central Tibetan temple complexes. They use their data to test hypotheses proposed by art historians concerning the date of execution of paintings in different areas of the temple, and are able to contribute a more precise chronology of the paintings, identifying four different periods of production. These papers are particularly timely, since the preprints of IIC's congress An Unbroken History: Conserving East Asian Works of Art and Heritage will be available as the 2014 supplement to Studies in Conservation from October 2014, with fully peer-reviewed postprints of selected papers also to be available as an online supplement during 2015.
Maria Vera Quattrini and colleagues employ analytical and technical studies on a Japanese handscroll painting of the seventeenth century. The Bamo Dōi-zu, representing 33 different types of horses, has been attributed to the famous Japanese artist, Kanō Sansetsu (1589–1651). However, since there is no author's seal present, this attribution has remained uncertain. The technical study identified materials and techniques consistent with the Kanō School of painting, and hence provides strong support for the Kanō attribution.
The paper by Juan Wu and colleagues provides a technical comparison of three famous Chinese white porcelains, Ding, Shufu, and Dehua wares. The chemical composition and microstructure of bodies and glazes are studied by a variety of methods, and the data used to infer raw materials and production techniques. The purpose is to better understand the differing coloration mechanisms that allowed these three kiln groups to produce white porcelains that are each unique in their aesthetic impact and visual qualities.
The papers in this special issue represent a selection of the wealth of technical art history research being conducted by conservation scientists and conservators, either alone or in collaboration with art historians. Studies in Conservation has a long and distinguished history of publishing this type of article, featuring works of art from around the globe, and plans to continue supporting and highlighting such research. Hence, Studies in Conservation should be considered an important literature source for art history scholars around the world.