The great art forgery blunder
By 
Raychelle Burks2017-08-10T15:06:00
Indian yellow is a pigment often used to spot fake art. But what if the reference standard was wrong?
One would think that sorting the true Indian yellow from its azo fakes would be a snap for Raman and infrared spectroscopy; after all, there are distinct structural differences that should give rise to different signals. All an analyst needs to do is collect spectra from the suspect item and compare it with a reference standard, being mindful that ageing or restoration attempts may affect the results. But the key to the whole process is the standard. What if it was wrong?