CHAPTER 5. Pigments and Colourants

Pigments and colourants are materials that have an enormous impact on how artworks are appreciated. Therefore, it is no surprise that since the first applications of Raman spectroscopy in art analysis, the study of this group of materials has gained special attention. Whereas the first applications often involved the identification of (mostly inorganic) pigments, the field has broadened towards the analysis of organic materials, such as synthetic pigments. Moreover, the study of dyes has gained from the developments in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Moreover, recently micro-spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (micro-SORS) was developed as a promising technique to study layered structures, such as paint layers.