ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Several paintings made by Gonzalo Bilbao between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries have been analysed by non-destructive XRF technique. The aim was to identify pigments used by the painter through different periods of his artistic activity, as well as to find out what kind of preparation he applied on canvases. There was a major interest in finding out, whether his palette and the system of preparing the painting ground were differing through time. The results showed that Bilbao was changing his painting preparations from exclusively lead white (denoted by the presence of Pb peaks in the XRF spectra) in his early works, which later on was gradually replaced by zinc white (Zn) and at the end by lithopone (Zn, Ba). Pigments showed even more complex changes. Bilbao was introducing new pigments as soon as appeared on the market, combining them with traditional ones.
