A Poisonous Atlas

In 2023, A damaged 16th-century atlas from the Hamburg State Archive was brought to the Mobile Lab. The atlas is the fourth volume of the six-volume series ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’, published between 1572 and 1618. The title of this single copy is ‘Urbium Praecipuarum Totius Mundi’. The edition contains 59 city views in the form of folded double sheets with hand-coloured engravings. At the time of its publication, its compilation of uniformly designed and equally sized maps in book form was a novelty.

Due to concerns about arsenic-containing pigments, the atlas was subjected to X-ray fluorescence analysis. With this method, the elemental components of the pigments can be determined non-invasively. In addition to point measurements, the XRF scanner can also scan larger areas from which the local element distribution can then be displayed.

Based on the results of the analysis, a restoration concept was drawn up under which the restoration could be successfully carried out.