Non-destructive characterisation of fourteenth century painting by means of molecular spectroscopy and unilateral NMR

Abstract

The present work was aimed at characterising the materials and assessing the state of conservation of the ‘Adorazione dei Magi’, a wooden panel painted by Bartolo di Fredi in the second half of fourteenth century. To this goal, innovative non-destructive investigation techniques such as portable Raman spectroscopy, visible reflectance spectroscopy and unilateral nuclear magnetic resonance, were used in situ in order to achieve surface and bulk compositional data. The former allowed the identification of the artist’s palette including cinnabar, red ochre, minium, carbon black, lead white, ultramarine blue, malachite and phthalocyanine green, while the latter provided information on the stratigraphic structure and state of conservation of the wooden panel.

Keywords:

• Panel painting
• VIS-reflectance spectroscopy
• Raman spectroscopy
• Wood layer
• In situ NMR

This study is part of a larger project entitled ‘Sviluppo di Indagini Chimiche Applicate al Mantenimento delle Opere e al Restauro (SICAMOR)’, financed by the Tuscany Region (P.A.R.FAS REGIONE TOSCANA, linea di azione 1·1.a.3, 2011–2013). Raman and visible reflectance measurements were performed in the framework of TEMART project, supported by the Tuscany Region (grant no. POR-Creo/FESR 2007-2013).

Notes

This paper is part of a special issue on Arts and Surfaces