这学期的课程是化学, 艺术, and 人类学 came together through collaborations facilitated by assistant professor Kristin Labby in her CHEM 225 / MUST 295 course “Instrumental Analysis of Art and Artifacts.”

在本课程中, students used the handheld X-ray Fluorescence analyzer at the Logan Museum to study the elemental composition of museum objects. Students found that ornamental metal discs attached to the textile were potentially tumbaga, 金铜合金金属, 但实际上是由30%的银和70%的铜组成的, 因此不是真正的tumbaga.

Kristin’s class then collaborated with Adjunct Assistant Professor David Boffa’s ARTH 150 “Italian Renaissance Painting” course for multiple combined-class activities such as making paint from scratch by mixing pigments (often a solid powder which provides the color) with various binders (liquid media which makes the paint spreadable and affixes it to the surface). Binders included oil paints, egg tempera, glair (egg white), watercolor gums, and acrylic. Chemists contributed information of the properties of the materials (why might you need to first mix the solid pigment in water before incorporating it into the binder?) while 艺术 history students contributed knowledge of what paint materials would have been available to 艺术ists over different time periods in history, 比如文艺复兴时期(大约公元1300-1600年).

在为期两天的合作中, the classes worked together to analyze paintings from the Wright Museum collection using XRF spectroscopy to identify metals present in various regions of the paintings. 因为许多颜料都含有金属, 特定的颜料通常在特定的时期使用, 这种分析提供了这幅画的历史信息. 例如, 艺术ists commonly prepared their canvas with a foundational layer of white called the ground. Lead white would have been the predominant white pigment from the Middle Ages until the 19th century when zinc white became more available and commonly used. 钛白, 一个更安全的选择, 是在20世纪初合成的并立即占据主导地位.

第一天, students researched the history of the painting and generated thoughtful research questions and selected p艺术icular areas of the painting to analyze. 第二天, 在仪器专家邓荣平的协助下, students then had a hands-on opportunity to use the handheld XRF instrument.

“虽然我们, 幸运的是, 在藏品中没有发现任何主要的赝品或伪造品吗, we gathered valuable information that mostly confirms the attributions of the paintings we analyzed. 例如，我们发现克拉纳赫学派 对贤士的崇拜 was painted on a lead white ground, consistent for its attributed time period. 此外，确认这颗星确实是真金也是令人兴奋的!克里斯汀说.

Logan Museum Director and Curator Nicolette Meister highlighted that this type of collaborative work exemplifies the intersectionality of multiple fields: science, 博物馆研究, 人类学, 和艺术. 20岁的学生穆斯塔法. Labby’s course “I hope more STEM faculty collaborate with other dep艺术ments to build more courses like this. 科学和人文的交叉是未来的所在.”