I am a painting conservator currently working on a painting which I believe to have blackened lead white pigment in several areas. The painting dates from the 1930s and features a religious scene. The painting has been subjected to a significant amount of pollution since it’s execution and has never been varnished. I am not 100% sure of the medium, although I have a feeling it is oil paint, but painted in quite a dilute manner. Darkening seems to have occurred in localised areas, for example, where a highlight should be. Pigment analysis using Polarised Light Microscopy (PLM) has shown that lead white is present in these areas and I understand that blackened lead white appears no different from lead white in PLM. The research I have read so far is mainly written by paper conservators and focuses on lead white bound in aqueous media. I am aware that the lead white blackening phenomenon is rarer in oil paintings, however, as I mentioned above, the medium is not known. I have been looking at recipes for reversing the blackening using hydrogen peroxide in a gel (As mentioned by M McFarlane, ‘The Whitening Effects of Peroxide Gels on Darkened Lead White Paint’ and S Lussier/ G D Smith, ‘A Review of the Phenomenon of Lead White Darkening and its Conversion Treatment’). I am interested to hear from anyone who has used this technique, or any others, successfully, especially in the case of lead white bound in oil paint. As time and budget are limiting factors in this project media analysis is not a viable option. I can be contacted via the studio email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Jennifer Young Ruth Bubb Limited Oxfordshire
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