A study published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports has revealed the nature of the black stains on the passepartout of the ancient document. The Codex Atlanticus is one of the most extensive and fascinating collections of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings and writings. Its preservation is
Folio 843 of Codex Atlanticus. Researchers from Politecnico di Milano discovered that black stains on the Codex Atlanticus’ passepartout were caused by metacinnabar, a black crystalline phase of mercury sulfide, due to a combination of restoration techniques, air pollution, and additives in the glue used during the restoration process.
In 2006, very small black stains were discovered on the passepartout, located around the panel that frames and binds the600 onwards, has caused great concern among museum curators and scholars. An initial intervention in 2009 led to unbinding the volumes. Today, the drawings are individually mounted on passepartouts, in folders and-free boxes.
Previous studies had ruled out that the stains resulted from microbiological deterioration processes.
In-depth studies on paper preservation methods have allowed us to formulate some hypotheses on the formation of metacinnabar. The presence of mercury could be associated with the addition of an anti-vegetative salt in the glue mixture used in Grottaferrata’s restoration techniques, which could have been applied only in certain areas of the passepartout paper, precisely where it holds Leonardo’s.
Reference: “Imaging and micro-invasive analyses of black stains on the passepartout of Codex Atlanticus Folio 843 by Leonardo da Vinci” by Nicolò Guarnieri, Marta Ghirardello, Sara Goidanich, Daniela Comelli, David Dellasega, Marine Cotte, Elena Fontana and Lucia Toniolo, 25 March 2023,
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