Differences in lead white pigment in Dutch paintings are directly linked to historical conflicts.

Researchers from the Rijksmuseum, the Mauritshuis and Amsterdam universities analysed the lead isotope composition in 77 well-dated paintings by 27 different seventeenth-century artists. Their results show that the isotope composition of the lead white pigment in the paintings is time-dependent. The turning points coincide with major socio-economic events such as the English Civil War and Anglo-Dutch-French conflicts. They published their findings in Science Advances.