Integrated Research on Sixteenth to Early Nineteenth Century Panel Paintings: Chromatographic and Spectroscopic Characterisation of Paint Layers

Abstract

The term “Post-Byzantine art” refers to an artistic movement that appeared in the mid-fifteenth century and lasted until the early nineteenth century (Clogg 2002). The movement started immediately after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and it marked the beginning of one of the most important periods in Greek art history. The Post-Byzantine era represented a transitional period when the art of panel painting changed style, from religious to secular, due to significant exchanges with the western world. At the same time, the artists’ technique evolved; the painters changed their method from egg tempera on wooden panel to oil painting on canvas. Cultural influences also brought changes in the iconographic types: the artists exempted themselves from the strict Byzantine rules of depiction, in order to allow themselves free expression.