GC-MS Method Developed to Identify Oils and Oil Binders in Paintings

A GC-MS procedure has been developed, optimized, and applied to characterization of oil binders in paintings. The procedure involves hydrolysis of lipids to fatty acids (FAs) and derivatization of FAs to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). FAMEs are analyzed by temperature-programed GC followed by full-scan MS. The method provides a good repeatability of results and has been applied to the characterization of common plant oils used in paintings, commercial oil and tempera paints, model painting samples, and to samples taken from real paintings.