A DC Science Café Event… A Chemist’s View of Cultural Treasures
Date and Time
Sep 15, 2014 6:30 pm
Location
450K
450 K St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20001
Sep 15, 2014 6:30 pm
450K
Using modern laboratory tools, she and colleagues have discovered that painters have modified raw pigments by adding finely ground glass and sands; broadened the range of hues at their disposal for glazing ceramics by adopting metal foils, complex oxides and other ingredients; and brightened their palettes by mixing rare and unusual minerals into their pigment formulae. For the colors in the Virgin’s mantle in Madonna and Child (1320/30) in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, for example, Berrie’s most recent analyses have shown that the Florentine master Giotto (1266-1337) chose an intense bright yellow glass for his yellow and added the rare green-blue mineral mixite (Cu6Bi(AsO4)3(OH)6.3H2O) to the purest azurite. With the tools of their trade, Berrie and other art-minded scientists contribute to the historical narratives underlying our greatest cultural treasures.
Now in its third year, DC Science Cafe_is brought to you with support from DC Science Writers Association and encouragement from Busboys and Poets.
This event is free and open to the public by way of a collaboration between DC Science Writers Association and the Chemical Society of Washington.
Donations welcome.
For more info, contact Ivan Amato: DCScienceCafe@dcswa.org
