The Feigned Retable (altarpiece) of the Church of Conceicao dos Militares, Recife-PE.1 Color and Pigmentation Studies

The feigned Retable, of the primitive chapel of the Church in Recife, Pernambuco, was executed in the eighteenth century by technique of the tempering painting on wooden planks. The present research's aim is to study the colors, pigmentations and chemical elements present in part of this artwork, in order to deepen the knowledge about artworks painted over wood executed in that century. This study started from the definition of the artistic component integral to the art and architecture of the Catholic religion that were inherited by the Portuguese colonizers, the "Retabulo". Therefore, the introduction begins with an explanation of the figure of the Retable and with the classification of the object in question as a representative of the Baroque style 1st phase, or Portuguese National style. After such introduction was made and the artwork classified, a study of the color palette and a decoding in the light of the NCS system, were carried out. Subsequently, a piece of the object was taken to the Nuclear Physics Laboratory of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco for application of EDRX. The results indicated which chemical elements were present in 33 locations in the painting. Subsequently, the colorimeter was applied at these points and an analysis was made between the chemical elements and the colors classified by the NCS system.