Presentation

Philippe Walter is a chemist specializing in the study of cultural heritage materials. Born in 1967 in Saint-Cloud, he studied physics and materials science as part of the inter-university magistère in physics at the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud - Lyon (1986-1990). He then joined the Musées de France research laboratory and the geochemistry laboratory at Toulouse's Paul-Sabatier University, where he obtained his doctorate in Earth Sciences in 1993. Recruited to the CNRS by the Institut de Chimie, he was in charge of, then director of research at the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France until 2011. He headed the CNRS team there from 2008 to 2011 and, in early 2012, set up the Laboratoire d'archéologie moléculaire et structurale at Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University (Paris 6), a new joint research unit with the CNRS.

His research has led him to develop innovative instruments for the analysis of micro-samples or directly on works of art. He contributed to the development of ion beam analysis with the AGLAE gas pedal installed at the Palais du Louvre, where he headed the team from 2003 to 2011, and where he is currently the scientific director of the New AGLAE project to transform the gas pedal. He is also interested in the use of synchrotron radiation to analyze ancient cosmetics and paintings. He played a pioneering role in this field, and brought the national community together by proposing the creation of the Synchrotron and Heritage research group, of which he was deputy director from 2004 to 2007. At the same time, he led the construction of prototypes of portable, lightweight analysis instruments, enabling work to be carried out on archaeological sites or in museums. These tools have enabled him to carry out a number of studies, notably on the body paintings of mummies in China and Chile. To carry out these technological developments, he has worked with numerous experimental teams in France and abroad, in particular in Grenoble with the Néel Institute and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).

His work in the field of archaeology and art has led him to cover a wide range of periods, from prehistory to the modern era. He has directed various research programs, including one on ancient cosmetic habits, in collaboration with L'Oréal's research laboratories for 16 years. He characterized the compositions and properties of make-up, both on female statuettes from the Upper Paleolithic and in Egyptian and Roman blush bottles. He has also studied the paintings of ornate caves, Egyptian and Greco-Roman tombs and Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci. His work helps us to understand the evolution of techniques used during the artist's lifetime or over the course of centuries, and to better understand those who conceived and produced these works. This research also shows that artistic manifestations are a possible key to rediscovering the history of chemistry.

Chair

Selected bibliography

Books for the general public

  • L'art-chimie, enquête dans le laboratoire des artistes

    Walter P. et Cardinali F., L’art-chimie enquête dans le laboratoire des artistes, Michel de Maule, coll. « Beau livre histoire », 2009.

  • Le Bain et le miroir, Soins du corps et cosmétiques de l'Antiquité à la Renaissance

    Bardies-Fronty I., Bimbenet-Privat M. et Walter P. (dir.), Le Bain et le miroir, Soins du corps et cosmétiques de l'Antiquité à la Renaissance, Catalogue de l'exposition présentée au Musée du Moyen Âge – Thermes et Hôtel de Cluny et au Musée national de la Renaissance d'Ecouen, Paris, Gallimard, coll. « Livres d'Art », 2009.

Selection of scientific publications

  • Hair Fiber as a Nanoreactor in Controlled Synthesis of Fluorescent Gold Nanoparticles

    Haveli S.D., Walter P., Patriarche G., Ayache J., Castaing J., van Elslande E., Tsoucaris G., Wang P., Kagan H.B., (2012) "Hair Fiber as a Nanoreactor in Controlled Synthesis of Fluorescent Gold Nanoparticles", Nano Letters, 12, 6212-6217.

  • Unexpected Materials in a Rembrandt Painting Characterized by High Spatial Resolution Cluster-tof-sims Imaging

    Sanyova J., Cersoy S., Richardin P., Laprevote O., Walter P., Brunelle A., (2011) "Unexpected Materials in a Rembrandt Painting Characterized by High Spatial Resolution Cluster-tof-sims Imaging", Analytical Chemistry, 83, 753-760.

  • Revealing the Sfumato Technique of Leonardo da Vinci by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

    de Viguerie L., Walter P., Laval E., Mottin B., Solé V.A. (2010), "Revealing the Sfumato Technique of Leonardo da Vinci by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 49 (35), 6125-6128.

  • Finding out Egyptian Gods' Secret Using Analytical Chemistry: Biomedical Properties of Egyptian Black Makeup Revealed by Amperometry at Single Cells

    Tapsoda I., Arbault S., Walter Ph., Amatore C. (2010), "Finding out Egyptian Gods' Secret Using Analytical Chemistry: Biomedical Properties of Egyptian Black Makeup Revealed by Amperometry at Single Cells", Analytical Chemistry, 82, 457-460.

  • Composition of Renaissance Paint Layers: Simultaneous Particle Induced X-ray Emission and Backscattering Spectrometry

    de Viguerie L., Beck L., Salomon J., Pichon L. et Walter Ph., « Composition of Renaissance Paint Layers: Simultaneous Particle Induced X-ray Emission and Backscattering Spectrometry », Analytical Chemistry, 2009, vol. 81, n° 19, p. 7960-7966.

  • Probing the Structure of Heterogeneous Diluted Materials by Diffraction Tomography

    Bleuet P., Welcomme E., Dooryhee E., Susini J., Hodeau J. L. et Walter Ph., « Probing the Structure of Heterogeneous Diluted Materials by Diffraction Tomography », Nature Materials, vol. 7, 2009, p. 468-472.

  • Identification of Ritual Blood in African Artifacts Using TOF-SIMS and Synchrotron Sadiation Microspectroscopies

    Mazel V., Richardin P., Debois D., Touboul D., Cotte M., Brunelle A., Walter P. et Laprevote O., « Identification of Ritual Blood in African Artifacts Using TOF-SIMS and Synchrotron Sadiation Microspectroscopies », Analytical Chemistry, 79, 2007, p. 9253-9260.

  • Evidence for Early Use of Nanotechnology from an Ancient Hair Dyeing Formula

    Walter P., Welcomme E., Hallégot P., Zaluzec N.J., Deeb C., Castaing J., Veyssière P., Bréniaux R., Lévêque J. L. et Tsoucaris G., « Evidence for Early Use of Nanotechnology from an Ancient Hair Dyeing Formula », Nanoletters 6, 2006, p. 2215-2219.

  • Ion Beam Analysis of Art Works: 14 Years of Use in the Louvre

    Dran J. C., Salomon J., Calligaro T. et Walter Ph., « Ion Beam Analysis of Art Works: 14 Years of Use in the Louvre », Nucl. Instr. and Meth. in Phys. Res. B, vol. 219-220, 2004, p. 7-15.

  • Making Make-up in Ancient Egypt

    Walter Ph., Martinetto P., Tsoucaris G., Bréniaux R., Lefebvre M.A., Richard G., Talabot J. et Dooryhée E., « Making Make-up in Ancient Egypt », Nature, vol. 397, 1999, p. 483-484.