The Joseph-Achille Le Bel Prize 2017, one of the most important awards of the Société Chimique de France (SCF, French Chemical Society), has been awarded to Philippe Walter, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. The prize recognizes French chemists whose work is acclaimed on an international level and was presented during a ceremony on May 25, 2018, in Dijon, France.
Philippe Walter is honored for his contributions to the development of methods to analyze and characterize archeological objects and works of art. His research focuses on non-destructive analysis methods and those with very small sample sizes using X-ray and optical spectroscopy methods.
Philippe Walter studied physics at l’Ecole Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud-Lyon and l’Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, both France, and received his Ph.D. from l’Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France, in 1993. He completed his habilitation in chemistry at l’Université Paris 6 in 2003. Since 2012, Walter is Director of the Laboratoire d’archéologie moléculaire et structurale (Molecular and Structural Archeology Laboratory) at Université Pierre et Marie Curie.
Among other honors, Walter has received the Prize of the Physical Chemistry Division of the SCF in 1994, the CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) Silver Medal in 2008, and the Franklin-Lavoisier Prize from the Science History Institute in 2010.
Selected Publications
- Materials science challenges in paintings,
Philippe Walter, Laurence de Viguerie,
Nat. Mater. 2018, 17, 106–109.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat5070 - The Eye of the Medusa: XRF Imaging Reveals Unknown Traces of Antique Polychromy,
Matthias Alfeld, Maud Mulliez, Philippe Martinez, Kevin Cain, Philippe Jockey, Philippe Walter,
Anal. Chem. 2017, 89, 1493–1500.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03179 - A 19th Century “Ideal” Oil Paint Medium: A Complex Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Gel,
Laurence de Viguerie, Maguy Jaber, Hélène Pasco, Jacques Lalevée, Fabrice Morlet-Savary, Guylaine Ducouret, Baptiste Rigaud, Thierry Pouget, Clément Sanchez, Philippe Walter,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 1619–1623.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201611136 - Discovery of a woman portrait behind La Violoniste by Kees van Dongen through hyperspectral imaging,
Elodie Herens, Catherine Defeyt, Philippe Walter, David Strivay,
Heritage Sci. 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-017-0127-4 - Revealing the sfumato Technique of Leonardo da Vinci by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy,
Laurence de Viguerie, Philippe Walter, Eric Laval, Bruno Mottin, V. Armando Solé,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 6125–6128.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201001116 - Applications of synchrotron-based micro-imaging techniques to the chemical analysis of ancient paintings,
Marine Cotte, Jean Susini, V. Armando Solé, Yoko Taniguchi, Javier Chillida, Emilie Checroun, Philippe Walter,
J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 2008, 23, 820.
https://doi.org/10.1039/b801358f - Probing the structure of heterogeneous diluted materials by diffraction tomography,
Pierre Bleuet, Eléonore Welcomme, Eric Dooryhée, Jean Susini, Jean-Louis Hodeau, Philippe Walter,
Nat. Mater. 2008, 7, 468–472.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2168 - Early Use of PbS Nanotechnology for an Ancient Hair Dyeing Formula,
Philippe Walter, Eléonore Welcomme, Philippe Hallégot, Nestor J. Zaluzec, Christopher Deeb, Jacques Castaing, Patrick Veyssière, René Bréniaux, Jean-Luc Lévêque, Georges Tsoucaris,
Nano Lett. 2006, 6, 2215–2219.
https://doi.org/10.1021/nl061493u
Also of Interest
- Joseph-Achille Le Bel Prize 2016,
ChemViews Mag. 2017.
Christian Bruneau and Mir Wais Hosseini honored - Joseph-Achille Le Bel Prize 2015,
ChemViews Mag. 2016.
French bioelectrochemist Serge Cosnier honored - Joseph-Achille Le Bel Prize 2014,
ChemViews Mag. 2015.
French organochemist Max Malacria honored
