Van Gogh’s Irises and Roses: the contribution of chemical analyses and imaging to the assessment of color changes in the red lake pigments

Abstract Vincent van Gogh’s still lifes Irises and Roses were investigated to shed light onto the degree to which the paintings had changed, both individually and in relation to each other since they were painted, particularly in regard to the fading of the red lakes. Non-invasive techniques, including macroscopic X-ray fluorescence mapping, reflectance imaging spectroscopy, and X-radiography, were combined with microanalytical techniques in a select number of samples. The in-depth microchemical analysis was necessary to overcome the complications that arise when evaluating by non-invasive methods alone the compositions of passages with complex layering and mixing of paints. The results obtained by these two approaches were complemented by color measurements performed on paint cross-sections and on protected edges, and with historical information provided by the artist’s own descriptions, early reviews and reproductions, and the data was used to carry out digital color simulations that provided, to a certain extent, a visualization of how the paintings may have originally appeared. Graphical abstract Irises, 1890, Vincent van Gogh. The Metropolitan Museum of Art #58.187. Zn (upper right), Pb (bottom left), and Br (bottom right) distribution maps acquired by XRF imaging.