Logical Reasoning

PT146 · S2 · Q12 A 1955 analysis of paint samples

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A 1955 analysis of paint samples from an Italian painting found evidence of cobalt, suggesting the use of cobalt blue, a pigment not used in Europe before 1804.

Given that ...

Discovering cobalt, in a 1955 analysis, indicated to people that a certain European painting was made after 1804 (since cobalt blue wasn't used in Europe prior to 1804).

How can it be that ...

Discovering cobalt, in a 2009 analysis, indicated to people that this painting was produced before 1804?

Evaluate

There are probably a few different ways we can resolve a paradox like this. There's a bit of a He Said / She Said to these two different analyses.

One says, , and the other says .

So one way to resolve that tension would just be a storyline that makes either the 1955 or the 2009 analysis seem like they were just wrong / confused.

But how could they both be right? Maybe the painting was made before 1804 but the cobalt blue was added later?

Maybe the painting was made before 1804 but the cobalt found on it isn't from cobalt blue paint pigment, but just from some other source of cobalt?

Goal

We're probably more likely to be explaining how the 2009 analysis could be correct, but we should stay flexible since there are different ways to resolve this discrepancy.

I would head to answers thinking,

12.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above?

Correct
The 2009 analysis revealed that
Why this is right
This is saying that the painting was produced before 1804, without any cobalt blue on it. But then years later, after 1804, they added cobalt to conceal damage to the original paint layers. The 1955 analysis was still sensible in thinking that, "if there's cobalt blue on here, then it must have come from after 1804". But the 2009 analysis may have been more sophisticated, and so it could tell that the cobalt blue wasn't from the original painting.
Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
83% picked this
The 2009 analysis used sophisticated
No Impact
The amount of cobalt discovered doesn't make any difference. Given that cobalt wasn't an option until 1804, whether you discover 2 mg or 50 mg of it, what's the difference? Either way, it would make you think that this painting didn't exist until after 1804.
9% picked this
The 2009 analysis took more
No Impact
The number of samples don't matter (especially when the answer says it was a greater number of samples but a smaller amount in each sample, so we don't even know which analysis ended up sampling more or less). Given that cobalt wasn't an option until 1804, whether you find cobalt in 2 samples or in 20 samples, you're still going to think that the painting didn't happen until after 1804.
1% picked this
Many experts, based on the
No Impact
This answer would pile on some support to the 2009 analysis, so now we have two voices saying the painting was made before 1804, but this answer doesn't reconcile anything with the 1955 analysis. Were they just wrong? Did they not discover cobalt? Was cobalt available earlier than 1804? This choice doesn't provide any answers that help us understand how something with cobalt could be from before 1804.
3% picked this
New information that came to
No Impact
The frequency with which cobalt was used after 1804 doesn't make any difference to us. From what we know, we don't think cobalt is an option prior to 1804, whereas this 2009 analysis says "this painting, which has cobalt on it, was produced prior to 1804". This answer hasn't given us any way to make sense of how a painting with cobalt on it could have been produced prior to 1804.
4% picked this

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