Analytical chemistry holds promise for paintings

Dating old paintings could be a matter for analytical chemistry following research conducted by the University of the Basque Country.

Scientists in the Department of Analytical Chemistry there are looking at the different pigments used over the centuries as a means of determining if a painting was really created in the era to which it is believed to belong.

Dr Itxaso Maguregi says: "Coming across pigments invented after the 19th century in [a 16th-18th century] painting is an anachronism and means that the work is not authentic or is wrongly dated."

She adds that the 16th-18th centuries in particular are good to date due to the variety and specificity of pigments used by artists during that period.

Meanwhile, the department is using chromatography to determine the effect of drugs on people with metabolic syndrome.

The department offers degree disciplines ranging from analytical chemistry itself to instrumental analysis and assessing industrial chemical pollution risks.