The artistic palette of Carlo Bononi, Baroque artist of Ferrara

The aim of the in situ XRF analysis on the canvas “Incoronazione della Vergine” (Fig. 1) was devoted to characterise the palette of Carlo Bononi (Ferrara, 1569-1632), who is a not well-known artist of the first Baroque in Ferrara, but relevant in the field of the Este court school. The canvas of large dimension (2,8 m of diameter) has been depicted by Bononi between 1616 and 1620 for the Santa Maria in Vado church. More than one hundred points have been collected by means of XRF spectrometer, but the presence of many overlapping painted layers have leaved some doubts about the preparation or the background layers. The SEM-EDS analysis on some samples have resolved many of these doubts. The results obtained indicate typical seventeenth-century pigments, such as Cinnabar covered with an Earth for the darker areas. The different correlations discovered between Fe and Mn suggest the use of more than one Umber Earth. Furthermore, for the yellow pigments, the artist used in some cases the Yellow Ochre, while in the others the Lead and Tin Yellow. Almost all the pigments have been identified and they are the first step forming the technical apparatus in order to understand the modus operandi of the Ferarese artist. The “Incoronazione della Vergine” is exposed in the Santa Maria in Vado church in the exhibit “Carlo Bononi. Immagnificus Commotor”, which is parallel and related to the exhibition in Palazzo dei Diamanti “Carlo Bononi. The last dreamer of the Ferarese School” until the 7th of January 2018.