Ion beam induced luminescence analysis of painting pigments

Ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) has been exploited for the first time in the analysis of inorganic painting pigments. The elemental constituents of the different compounds have been determined by particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE). The acquisition time of each spectrum ranges from 100 ms to a few seconds, depending on the luminescence intensity. The luminescence features are fingerprints of the different compounds, thus identifying the provenience of pigments of the same nominal composition. Organic varnish layers do not affect the IBIL features, allowing the identification of pigments, like lapis-lazuli, whose identification with PIXE is hindered by the varnish. IBIL proved to be a technique complementary to PIXE in the archeometry and cultural heritage analysis fields.