Materials and paint technique of a special masterpiece: Jacopo Tintoretto’s The Wedding Feast at Cana in Venice

The present paper illustrates the results of the scientific investigation performed on the painting on canvas The Wedding Feast at Cana (1561) by Jacopo Robusti, nicknamed Tintoretto. The painting, commissioned for the refectory of the Crociferi’s Convent of, is located in the Sacristy of the Basilica della Madonna della Salute in Venice, after the dissolution of the congregation. Noninvasive single spot technique (X-ray fluorescence), and analytical investigations (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy, and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) on ten micro-samples were combined to retrieve the palette and identifying the organic binding media. The investigations revealed the existence of many pigments available at that time in Venice, among which is the precious lapis lazuli. The identification of two pigments, one white and one blue, allowed to know the possible time of execution of the two angles, added at the top. The study of the painting has made it possible to know completely unexpected aspects: the painting does not present the traditional ground of gypsum and animal glue, but it turns out to be complete without the preparatory layer. This painting is described by art historians as an “oil on canvas”; however, GC/MS did not identify any fatty acids of siccative oil, but only egg, presumably yolk, then The Wedding Feast at Cana was made in tempera. on canvas The Wedding Feast at Cana (1561) by Jacopo Robusti, nicknamed Tintoretto. The painting, commissioned for the refectory of the Crociferi’s Convent of, is located in the Sacristy of the Basilica della Madonna della Salute in Venice, after the dissolution of the congregation. Noninvasive single spot technique (X-ray fluorescence), and analytical investigations (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy, and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) on ten micro-samples were combined to retrieve the palette and identifying the organic binding media. The investigations revealed the existence of many pigments available at that time in Venice, among which is the precious lapis lazuli. The identification of two pigments, one white and one blue, allowed to know the possible time of execution of the two angles, added at the top. The study of the painting has made it possible to know completely unexpected aspects: the painting does not present the traditional ground of gypsum and animal glue, but it turns out to be complete without the preparatory layer. This painting is described by art historians as an “oil on canvas”; however, GC/MS did not identify any fatty acids of siccative oil, but only egg, presumably yolk, then The Wedding Feast at Cana was made in tempera.