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Painting manuals with technical and iconographical prescriptions served the needs of Greek icon painters during the post-Byzantine period. The circa 1730 CE Hermeneia of the art of painting was compiled by the hieromonk and icon painter Dionysius and is regarded as the most comprehensive pertinent Greek text. Dionysius' Hermeneia was widely circulating among icon painters in the form of hand-written copies, many of which survive today. Most of these Hermeneia manuscripts are near-facsimiles of the Dionysius prototype text. Yet, two copies made by Father Ioannis Balpis, a Cretan icon painter, in 1782–83 CE offer an important expansion of the technical part. Here, the authors present the first ever translation of the hitherto unpublished Balpis' Hermeneia technical additions that offer unique new insights into the materials and techniques of post-Byzantine painting. Moreover, through the critical evaluation of the Balpis additions, it is shown that the Dionysius technical part is by no means an exhaustive account of its contemporary technical knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An X-ray fluorescence handheld spectrometer (hh-XRF) is adapted for real-time qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis in scanning mode for applications in cultural heritage. Specifically, the Tracer-5i (Bruker) is coupled with a low-cost constructed computer-controlled x–y target stage that enables the remote control of the target's movement under the ionizing X-ray beam. Open-source software synchronizes the spectrometer's measuring functions and handles data acquisition and data analysis. The spectrometer's analytical capabilities, such as sensitivity, energy resolution, beam spot size, and characteristic transition intensity as a function of the distance between the spectrometer and the target, are evaluated. The XRF scanner's potential in real-time imaging, object classification, and quantitative analysis in cultural heritage-related applications is explored and the imaging capabilities are tested by scanning a 19th-century religious icon. The elemental maps provide information on used pigments and reveal an underlying icon. The scanner's capability to classify metallic objects was verified by analyzing the measured raw spectra of a coin collection using Principal Components Analysis. Finally, the handheld's capability to perform quantitative analysis in scanning mode is demonstrated in the case of precious metals, applying a pre-installed quantification routine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-medieval Greek painting manuals, exemplified by the Hermeneia of the Art of Painting by Dionysius of Fourna, were often copied, enriched, and widely used in icon-painter workshops until the twentieth century. These manuals reflect the accumulated experience of many generations of painters and include sections that pertain to preparation and application of materials and handling of works. Here we present, discuss, and, in some cases, compare with pertinent western instructions and experimental findings (deriving from the analysis of icons and wall paintings), key Greek manual instructions for sound practice, and practical conservation of paintings. Instructions in consideration come from both the published version of Hermeneia and various unpublished manuals; it is shown that the first part of the widely circulating standard edition of Dionysius is by no means an exhaustive account of post-Byzantine technical knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]