Determination of clay pigment provenance rased on crystal structure characterisation

Application of X-ray diffraction techniques (XRD) in material analysis of artworks is beneficial in several aspects. Primarily it provides indisputable identification of crystal components found in colour layers, further it makes quantification of identified phases possible and last but not least it can also bring insight in material crystal structure. The crystal structure of materials is often affected by conditions which have been formed under, e.g. geological genesis, manufacturing procedure or secondary changes for example resulted from corrosive action of environment. The knowledge of the relation between the crystal structure of the material and its formation can be useful not only for art historic evaluation of the artwork but also for the artwork restoration and/or conservation. Within the example of clay mineral kaolinite, we show that its crystal order evaluation (based on XRD) can serve well to find its natural origin. We found kaolinite, the main component of kaolin (white earth), in a preparation layer of a Gothic wall painting in St. Maria-Magdalena Church in Bor near Karlovy Vary, where important kaolin deposits are situated. Comparing eight reference kaolins, we demonstrated that these can be differentiated just according to the kaolinite crystallinity (crystal structure ordering). Within this study we compared laboratory powder X-ray micro-diffraction (micro-XRD) with synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD). We found that both techniques led to the same results

Financial analysis of chosen company

This bachelor thesis on the topic of financial analysis of chosen company is engaged in assessing the financial situation of the joint-stock company První zemědělská a.s. Tuněchody in the period from 2010 to 2014. The thesis consists of theoretical and practical part. Theoretical part describes basic concepts and methods of financial analysis. In the practical part is based on the actual data of the chosen company to calculate basic indicators of financial analysis. For the overall evaluate of the financial situation are utilized chosen bankruptcy and creditworthy models. Based on the obtained result it can be stated that the enterprise has no problems with the payment of its obligations. The funding is used mainly equity. Smaller drawing fund from foreign sources indicates a high financial independence of the company. Of the indicators of liquidity is found to be capable of undertaking the payment. Overall assessment of the financial situation is positive, the company is financially sound and will not bankrupt in future

Origin, composition and stability of copper pigments in wall paintings

Blue and green copper pigments occur in a wide range of chemically close, although mineralogically different species, which makes their proper identification nontrivial. Furthermore, they can be of various origins – natural, artificial or formed as a result of corrosion of another copper pigment. The degradation of copper pigments is a serious problem in case of artworks exposed to corrosive environment, such as wall paintings or exterior stone polychromes. In this paper, we document the variability of copper pigments used in history on examples of selected wall paintings. The problem of origin and stability of copper pigments in wall paintings is solved using advanced microanalytical investigation of paint layers together with the laboratory experiments. Microanalytical features documenting natural or artificial origin of copper pigments as well as their secondary changes caused by corrosive environment are shown and discussed