The term "nothing lasts forever" strikes again as recent news talks about how some famous old masterpieces of art are now slowly coming to an end. This is due to nature and how it uses chemistry to end things.
Laboratory Equipment talked about how art dealers have a really good chance of making it in the market but this point becomes almost impossible when the art tries to destroy itself. Recently some odd spots have been seen on some old paintings that are considered masterpieces of history.
These paintings are oil paintings and this phenomenon occurs mainly because of the oil and the formation of the paint itself.These oil formations and compositions eventually make an alkaline soap which then erupts due to its foamy texture. Of course, given enough time it tends to displace other materials out of the way and hence create the spot.
Eureka Alert also linked a video on this phenomenon and showed that these famous paintings do not come with a huge noticeable spot, but rather thousands of tiny microscopic pop marks which, if seen collectively, ruins the painting as a whole.
This phenomenon started recently where thousands of priceless oil paintings now have thousands of popped holes in them and this is really driving the art world insane and causing a huge debate on the value and significance of these paintings.
These soap remainders are created by lead. The paint content of the art itself has lead in it and this lead reacts with the oil in the oil paintings. This reacts and creates a lead soap. This soap is highly reactive and therefore it bursts.
This is quite the sad discovery and it could mean the end of all the old oil paintings in the world. Perhaps it may increase its value but it does not seem like it.
