The chicken and the ink

[bi3mw]

The albumen of an egg does not contain cell nuclei and thus only traces of DNA from the hen's oviduct.

Thank you @Bernd for your conclusive argumentation. The thought that the oviduct of the chicken could directly provide DNA has not occurred to me. However, as you said, these would be only traces of it and probably very difficult to extract.

It is possible to identify some albumen traits associated with chicken breeds though but you'd likely need a proteome database from other contemporary paintings containing egg white of known origin.
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Unfortunately, the effect of being able to get comparison material (bones) quickly and easily is eliminated. Building such a database is notoriously difficult and lengthy.



As for the durability of egg white, it should be noted that it was used, among other things, for gilding with real gold leaf. Quote: "These gildings are characterized by special luster and durability, their durability can be calculated after centuries." ( Wikipedia, section "Use in bookbinding" )