Authentic versus faked iconography:

a study on the behaviour of painting materials

Mariella Lobefaro *, Irina Sandu**
*) President of the Italian Cultural Association Icons: Research and Knowledge , Biella, Italy,
icone.ricerca@fastwebnet.it mariella.lobefaro@fastwebnet.it

**) REQUIMTE CFQB and Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the New University of Lisbon, 2825 Campus de
Caparica, Portugal, irina.sandu@dq.fct.unl.pt Phone: + 351 21 2948000 ext. 11304

In the last 30 years the world of the icons collectors, both private and public, enriched with works
of doubtful authenticity, if not really amazingly falsified.
Generally these faked icons come from Eastern countries (Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland
etc.), where the strong request from the European and American market cant be fulfilled because
of the severe but right limitations concerning their exportation. Among these icons, but in a minor
number, can be cited the icons painted in the ancient technique made between the first half of
the XIX century and 1917, with the obvious intention of lead on the market of Russian
collections.
The historical period in which gilding imitations were spread in Italy is corresponding partially to
the one in which Russia faced the phenomenon of icons painted in ancient technique. On the
other hand, the taste of that poque was to reevaluate the medieval style, although the Neo-gothic
one already put its imprint in whole Europe.
Not only the icons were involved by this fashion of old, dated fakes but also polychrome
sculptures and other religious objects expressing the Christian faith. Often these dated falsified
objects are very well done and quite convincing in the front of experts and art historians about
their pretended authentic value. If the evaluation errors can be understand and accepted in these
cases (usually the experts are starting their study from images characteristics and continuing with
the modifications of the iconographic style during centuries) is not the same thing for restorers,
that are asked to identify their technique, materials, poque of creation before any restoration
intervention. This should be done especially for avoiding the removal of patina varnishes,
considered as intrinsic part of the icon painted in an ancient technique.
In this case the expert eye of the restorer is often asked to evaluate the time patina and the
evidences of the behavior of paint materials, mainly expressed in a fitted network called
craquelure. Therefore a good and statistically proved analysis of the cracks in paint layers can
be a useful tool to assess authentic from non-authentic, but sometimes is not enough.
When a falsified icon, contemporary or historical, is made on an authentic wooden support, the
dendrochronological identification cant be of any help. And if the faker used original, canonical
techniques or materials, such as minerals reduced in powder with a mortar, the spectroscopy or
chemical analysis, that should lead to the identification of the elements, will not give much
information. If the author knows also how to do small restoration interventions on and/or under
varnishes, he will be able to cheat the IR reflectographys interpretation of authenticity.
Part of this research was done with a macro-photographical observation under visible raking and
diffused light and is based on the study of various types of cracks (craquele) under the point of

view of their shape and behavior. A comparison between the painting layers cracks in falsified
and authentic icons was done in order to identify more or less subtle differences.
The second part of the present intervention is focused on the application of modern microdestructive analytical techniques, such as: optical and scanning electron microscopy, qualitative
microanalysis (EDS or EDAX), FT-IR spectroscopy, Py-MS gas-chromatography. Two cases in
which the abovementioned instrumental techniques were of help in the identification of
falsifications or restoration interventions on iconography are reported:
Original icons subject to over-paintings and restoration interventions;
Falsified sculpture - Use of an old support, prepared according the original technique and
painted with recent pigments.
References
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