The use of mobile Raman spectroscopy to compare three full-page miniatures from the breviary of Arnold of Egmond

The Breviary of Arnold of Egmond is one of the most wealthily illuminated fifteenth century manuscripts in the Northern Netherlands. The manuscript originally contained a number of full-page miniatures, which were all removed at an unknown date before 1902. The three remaining miniatures studied here, are today part of different collections, but they were brought together for an exhibition. Although several historical and art historical details of this breviary have extensively been studied, no examination of the materials used was undertaken before. Analytical techniques, such as mobile Raman spectroscopy, can be used to characterise and identify these materials in a non-invasive way. This paper presents the results of the in situ Raman analysis of three full-page miniatures of the Breviary of Arnold of Egmond. During this study, different pigments could be identified, such as lead white (2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2), lead-tin yellow type I (Pb2SnO4), ultramarine (Na8-10Al6Si6O24S2-4), massicot (PbO), vermilion (HgS) and red lead (Pb3O4). Next to identification of the pigments, visual analysis was used to detect differences and similarities between the stylistic elements of the three analysed folios.