YES

Color, a fundamental attribute of our heritage, is fading in precious artworks, especially organic colors based on natural dyes. These were used in the past for dyeing as well as in illuminations and oil paintings. Current research has shown that organic yellows extracted from plants are particularly prone to degradation, thus earning the name 'lost yellows'. These were also used in mixture with other colorants, to create oranges and greens. Changes in these colors can significantly alter a painting's appearance and the key factors and degradation mechanisms of this color fading are yet to be disclosed. In particular, yellow dye plants were locally grown, providing important geographical information on an artworks’ production.

YES will focus on the identification and state of degradation of yellow colors in heritage objects, providing critical information about the artists' aesthetic perspective, conceptions and choices, and how the artwork has changed over time. YES will tackle this challenging goal by merging state-of-the art analytical instruments and historically accurate reconstructions of yellow colors. YES is supported by an wide network, reuniting experts on the history of textiles, science and technology, medieval illuminated manuscripts, as well as chemists and conservation scientists.

This project is to be developed within the framework of a CEEC contract (2022-2028). The CEEC Individual Call, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology, is aimed at PhD holders of any nationality or stateless with a background in any scientific area who wish to develop their scientific research or technological development activity in Portugal.