Vanessa Otero

van_otero@fct.unl.pt

Vanessa Otero is a conservation scientist dedicated to the study of artists’ materials found in painted heritage objects of different natures such as magic lantern glass slides. Her research aims to expand our understanding of these materials by investigating their historical production, colour stability and analytical characterisation, leading to better conservation and authentication procedures. Her investigation using the Winsor & Newton 19th Century Archive Database has impacted the preservation of artists’ materials found in heritage objects internationally.
She is an Assistant Researcher of the LAQV-REQUIMTE R&D unit and a collaborative member of the VICARTE R&D unit, with an h-index of 19 with 29 papers in peer-reviewed journals and >2000 citations (WoS).

Representative works:

Santos Â, Otero V, Vilarigues M. Production of Hand-painted Magic Lantern Glass Slides: A Literature Review. Studies in Conservation, 2024; 69(3): 137-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2023.2194080

Veiga T, Moro AJ, Nabais P, Vilarigues M, Otero V*. A First Approach to the Study of Winsor & Newton’s 19th-Century Manufacture of Madder Red Lake Pigments. Heritage, 2023; 6(4): 3606-3621. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6040192

Melo MJ, Nabais P, Vieira M, Araújo R, Otero V, Lopes J, Martín L. Between past and future: Advanced studies of ancient colours to safeguard cultural heritage and new sustainable applications. Dyes and Pigments, 2023; 208: 110815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2022.110815

Otero V, Pinto JV, Carlyle L, Vilarigues M, Cotte M, Melo MJ. Nineteenth century chrome yellow and chrome deep from Winsor & NewtonTM. Studies in Conservation, 2017; 62 (3): 123-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2015.1131478

Otero V, Sanches D, Montagner C, Vilarigues M, Carlyle L, Lopes JA, Melo MJ. Characterisation of metal carboxylates by Raman and infrared spectroscopy in works of art. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 2014; 45: 1197-1206. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrs.4520