Citation:

Santos, Â., Otero V., & Vilarigues M. (2019).  Characterisation of glass and painting materials from 18th century hand-painted glass slides used for projection with Magic Lanterns. Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Glass and Ceramics Working Group − "Recent Advances in Glass and Ceramics Conservation 2019". 219-224., London, England, 5-7 September 2019 copy at https://sites.fct.unl.pt/lanterna_magica/publications/characterisation-glass-and-painting-materials-18th-century-hand-painted

Abstract:

With the invention of the Magic Lantern during the 17th century, new perspectives for the pre-cinema universe started to emerge. During the following two centuries, this instrument achieved extraordinary success on all social media.
One of the first stages of the production of glass slides for projection with magic lanterns was the hand-painting technique that nowadays represents a significant challenge for conservation professionals due to the diversity of painting materials used and their exposure to aggressive conditions during the projections.
A set of Italian 18th-century hand-painted glass slides from the Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema's collection are currently being studied. The glass was characterised using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (µ-EDXRF) and the identification of the painting materials was performed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (µ-FTIR) and Raman Spectroscopy (µ-Raman). Further investigation will be conducted with Optical Microscopy (OM), UV-Vis Fibre-Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), and Microspectrofluorimetry.
The combination of different analytical techniques on glass slides examples allowed us to identify the composition of the glass and paintings materials, as well as to determine their current state of preservation.

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