Volubilis (Meknes,Morocco): Archaeometric study of the white and coloured marbles imported in the Roman age

The ruins of the Roman town of Volubilis, located in the Middle Atlas, near Meknes, between Fez and Rabat, constitute the most important Roman archaeological site in Morocco and are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Volubilis became the headquarters of the Mauritania Tingitana limes after the annexation of the kingdom of Mauritania to the Roman Empire in AD 42. Evacuated by the Romans after the second half of the 3rd century, the town became the capital of the kingdom of Idriss I in AD 789.The results of an archaeometric study of the marbles imported into Volubilis during the Roman age are reported herein the sixth framework program of the European Union.Of the few coloured lithotypes that have been found, all are of Greek origin with the exception of the so-called “Portuguese pink”, a pale pink marble exploited by the Romans near Vilaviçosa in the Lusitania which, till now, has not yet been identified outside Iberia. As regards the white marbles employed in the statuary, petrographic study in thin section and the δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O isotopic data emphasize the frequent use of Lunense and Pentelic marbles. The latter also features among the white marbles used for crustae and architectural elements together with the dolomitic variety of Thasian marble, Parian marble from Lakkoi, Proconnesian marble from the island of Marmara, an unknown marble most probably of local origin, and a variety of the so-called “greco scritto” whose provenance still remains unclear. In fact, its petrographic and geochemical features do not match those known for the classical “greco scritto” from Cap de Garde, near Annaba (Algeria).     

Botanic analysis of Livia’s villa painted flora (Prima Porta,Roma)

The frescoes of Livia’s villa at Prima Porta, Rome, are the most famous representations of Roman gardens. The painted flora is analyzed from the scientific viewpoint and previous identifications are critically discussed. Here, 24 different species are described, giving information on the taxonomic, and phytogeographic position. Most of them belong to the spontaneous elements present in the Mediterranean forests, maquis and grasses of Southern Italy, such as Arbutus unedo, Laurus nobilis, Nerium oleander, Quercus ilex, Quercus robur gr., Cornus mas, Myrtus communis, Phyllitis scolopendrium, Viola reichenbachiana, Chrysanthemum coronarium, Anthemis cotula, or widely cultivated, such as Cupressus sempervirens, Cydonia oblonga, Pinus pinea, Punica granatum, Papaver somniferum, Rosa centifolia, Phoenix dactylifera. A symbolistic purpose of the pictures is also clearly evident.     

A multi analytical approach to discriminate the Italian colored marble “Portasanta” from Portasanta “Marmor Chium” (Greece)

The “marble” Portasanta from Caldana (Grosseto, Italy) takes its name from the strict resemblance to the ancient Marmor Chium (also this called Portasanta) coming from the island of Chios in Greece. In this work, a complete characterization of the Italian Portasanta was made: chemical (X-ray fluorescence and isotopic analyses), mineralogical (X-ray diffraction on the bulk sample and on insoluble residue after acid attack), physical (water accessible porosity and imbibition coefficients), petrographical (optical microscopy) and mechanical (compressive strength test) analyses have been carried out in order to obtain a better distinction between Italian and Greek “marble”, sometimes mistaken. The Portasanta from Caldana (Italy) was quarried surely in the sixteenth century, but a possible use of this material during Roman time is still in doubt. The study of samples from some Tuscan archaeological sites (Torraccia di Chiusi, Siena and Roselle, Grosseto) allows us to confirm the use of Portasanta from Chios for the Torraccia site and that of Caldana for Roselle.     

The wood of “C” and “F” Roman ships found in the ancient harbour of Pisa (Tuscany, Italy): the utilisation of different timbers and the probable geographical area which supplied them

During the excavation of the Etruscan and Roman harbour of Pisa, several shipwrecks were found. The wooden timbers constituting the ship C and ship F (which date back to the first and the second century A.D., respectively, as attested by archaeological findings) were selected in order to collect information about the technological knowledge of the time. Pinus pinaster Aiton was essentially utilised for the planking of ship C and Quercus sp. caducifolia for that of ship F. The choice of timber for the other parts of ship C hull was much more differentiated. Ship C seems to be built in a careful way and its characteristics when added to its overall lightness, seem to reflect its use as a higher capacity boat built for sea sailing. Ship F seems more linked to short voyages in inner fresh waters. The utilisation of different woods was linked not only to the technological characteristics of wood, but also to their easy availability. Palynological analysis, carried out on the clay sediments embedding the shipwrecks, has shown that the flora of Pisa area in that time period would have allowed the acquisition of all the timber species used for both the ships’ construction, with the exception of the fig wood. However, a foreign origin of the timber from somewhere else in the Northern Mediterranean area has not been excluded.     

The rediscovery of Benevento Roman Theatre Acoustics

This study reports the acoustic history of the Benevento Roman theatre, from its origins in the Roman period to today. The theatre, built in the second century A.D., was abandoned following historical affairs – e.g. barbaric invasions – and natural events (earthquakes, floods, etc.). The building materials were used during the Langobardic Age for the construction of defensive walls and for the adornment of churches and buildings. During the following centuries some houses were built in the theatre. At the beginning of the 1900s, the dominating houses were demolished in order to bring to the light the buried parts of the theatre and to consolidate the structures. The recovery work ended only in 1950. The theatre is nowadays not only an ancient monument, but also the centre of important social activities with national and international festivals of music, dancing and drama. Using a software for architectural acoustic, and with a 3D theatre virtual model, we predicted the acoustic properties during the Imperial Age. With acoustic measurements carried out in situ, we evaluated the acoustic properties in the current state.     

The Re-emergence of The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in the Church of Saint Peter and Paul,Famagusta, Northern Cyprus

This article presents the first study of a painting, possibly the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, which has been concealed for over 500 years, and which has, this century only, re-emerged through plaster removal in the church of SS. Peter and Paul in Famagusta, N. Cyprus. Though very badly damaged the painting, which has remained undocumented and unstudied in the history and art history of Cyprus, may offer vital clues concerning internationalism and cultural interaction in Cyprus in the 14th and 15th centuries. It also offers specialists a rare glimpse at Italian ecclesiastical wall painting from this rich period in western art history, and makes clear the intellectual loss that might be felt if some basic conservation processes are not begun soon. Lastly, in the light of the changing political situation in that island it invites scholarship in a range of disciplines to the church and to other historic landmarks within the old city walls.     

Roman bricks from the Lagoon of Venice: a chemical characterization with methods of multivariate analysis

From 18 archaeological sites of the Lagoon of Venice 75 bricks belonging to Roman and medieval building levels have been analysed. Chemical composition and geometric measures allow the characterization of a group of 24 Roman bricks of Imperial age. The group formed by means of fuzzy c-means cluster analysis applied on chemical data have been tested by principal component analysis and finally subjected to discriminant analysis to estimate the relative weights of original variables and classify new elements. Correlations among the data of the major chemical elements confirm the reliability of the complex of chemical data. The aim of this research was to obtain a chemical characterization of Roman bricks (and later, of the medieval ones) coming from the lagoon of Venice thus making it possible: 1) to recognize the age of a brick by means of its chemical analysis; 2) to date the layers of archaeological excavations or the ground where there are medieval building foundations by means of membership bricks; 3) to calculate the rate of local ground lowering in the elapsed years by the difference in level from one layer to another; 4) to estimate local rates of land subsidence by comparison with mean values already known.     

Art collections and taste in the Spanish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Siglo</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">de Oro</Emphasis>

We analyze art pricing in a unique dataset on Madrid inventories between 1600 and 1750. We estimate a price index for the Spanish art market that is used for a general historical analysis of art during this period, showing a large increase in the real price of paintings during the XVII century. Then we examine the price differential between domestic and foreign paintings: At the beginning of the century domestic production was priced substantially below imported paintings, but the price gap was gradually reduced during the century. We argue that such a price convergence was not the fruit of variations in real exchange rate, relative supply or home bias, but was associated with increasing prices for the new domestic painters of the XVII century. Increasing remuneration for painting may have induced artistic innovations by domestic producers and created the conditions for the development of the Siglo de Oro of Spanish art.     

The palette of the Macchia Italian artist Giovanni Fattori in the second half of the xixth century

Giovanni Fattori (Livorno 1825–Firenze 1908) is the most representative artist of the Macchiaioli's current, an early group of Italian plein-air artists, whose work anticipates, in the xixth century, that of their younger contemporaries, the French Impressionists. The study, performed by a multidisciplinary team made up of scientists and conservators, presents the results of the scientific characterization carried out on a group of 10 paintings made by Fattori between 1854 and 1893 and shows the way he used complex mixtures of a large variety of traditional and synthetic pigments, ranging from lead white, found pure and also extended with calcium carbonate, natural barite and gypsum to zinc white, from red ochre to cinnabar and vermilion, from yellow ochre and Naples yellow to chrome yellow, cadmium yellow and zinc yellow, combined with many other ones reported in details. This paper highlights the evolution of his painting technique during a time of great technological and social innovations and puts forward some hypothesis on his awareness about manufactured pigments, i.e. tube paints recently introduced into the artists’ circles. The wide range of pigments and their different quality among the same synthetic products suggest that the artist used all the available materials, and that picking out the pigments he retained the early xixth century artists techniques, such as the use of mineral earths and Prussian blue, similarly to his contemporary Italian artists Federico Zandomeneghi and Telemaco Signorini, but he also experimented new and peculiar pigment mixtures in the making of “colored darks” and an innovative use of the grounds in the final composition, that are also distinctive features of the French Impressionists. This work is aimed at contributing to overcome the lack of a comprehensive overview on the widespread historical and scientific data collected up to now on the Italian paintings in the xixth century, which has been severely underestimated with respect to previous art movements.     

Quantification of mercury in XVIII century books by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF)

This work describes the quantitative analysis of mercury present in the ink used to colour some books of XVIII century. The mercury content was determined by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry. This is a non-destructive technique which allows elemental identification and quantification (Z > 13) by atomic physics processes. The organic pigments cannot be identified by this technique, taking into account that its composition is mainly C, O and H. Levels of 2 wt.% and 4.5 wt.% were measured in 1756 and 1753 books respectively. No significant amount of mercury was observed in other red books, on a total of 11, all from XVIII century: 1720, 1732, 1753, 1756, 1780, 1798, 1800. More than one book for each year were analysed. The studied books belong to a private collection, and were selected taking into account the age and the reddish colour of their external parts. High content on Fe were observed in some of the books. This work highlights the application of a physics technique in a very important aspect for art and cultural heritage conservation and restoration, considering that high levels of toxic elements might be found in ancient documents. It is of great importance that preliminary elemental analyses are performed on ancient documents before handling them, because they might constitute some danger for restorers, conservators and collectors. This work highlights, for the first time, the danger of some ancient books. They might contain a very high concentration of mercury, which is toxic for the organism. This is also a particularly important problem of public health never mentioned in literature before.     

Trachytes employed for funerary artefacts in the Roman Colonies Regium Lepidi (Reggio Emilia) and Mutina (Modena) (Italy): provenance inferred by petrographic and chemical parameters and by magnetic susceptibility

Roman funerary artefacts belonging to the archaeological collections in Modena and Reggio Emilia, two important Roman colonies (Mutina and Regium Lepidi, respectively) in the Cispadane region (Northern Italy), are made of trachytes from the Euganean Hills, close to Padua. In particular, the petrographic and chemical parameters, besides magnetic susceptibility of archaeological trachytes, suggest Monte Oliveto as their main source; very few of them, however, come from Monte Rosso and Monte Merlo. Surprisingly the trachytes from Monselice, which were used extensively to get flagstones for paving the Roman roads of the Po plain, were not implied in funerary art. Possibly the porosity of stones was determinant in addressing the use of the Euganean trachytes: the stones from Monte Oliveto (and also from Monte Rosso and Monte Merlo), which contain frequent cavities and voids, are porous and might favour body decomposition, like important stones used in antiquity for sarcophagi (e.g. lapis sarcophagus). By contrast, the trachytes from Monselice are dense, not porous, hence harder and more resistant to abrasion, therefore suitable for flagstones.     

Characterisation and provenance of stones used in the mosaics of the domus dei Coiedii at Roman Suasa (Ancona,Italy)

The mosaics covering the floors of the rooms of the domus dei Coiedii at Suasa (Ancona, Italy) may be dated archaeologically and artistically between the late republican-Augustan age (end of the first century B.C.-beginning of first century A.D.) and the second century A.D.-first half of third century A.D. The floors were made mostly in opus tessellatum, only one in opus sectile. Tesserae used in opus tessellatum are made mainly of local stones, belonging to the so-called Umbro-Marchigiana Sedimentary Sequence: the white to pinkish and reddish tesserae consist prevalently of limestones belonging to the ‘Scaglia Rosata’ Formation (Late Turonian-Middle Eocene), and subordinately to the ‘Calcare Massiccio del Burano’, which is part of the ‘Calcare Massiccio s.l.’ Formation (Late Triassic-Early Lias). Most dark to black tesserae are composed of not fossiliferous marls and marly clays, which probably derive from the local ‘Marne a Fucoidi’ Formation; a number of them are made of very fine grained sandstones, which are found as pebbles in the alluvial sediments of the Cesano river close to Suasa, and, some, of aphyric leucite-bearing basanites from the potassic Quaternary magmatic province of central-southern Italy. Artificial glasses (red and green, rich in Pb and low in Sb; light blue, low in Pb and high in Sb), containing microliths of Pb-rich phase(s) and of wollastonite, were also used in some floors. The stones used in opus sectile are (1) sedimentary: nodular limestones belonging to the ‘Rosso Ammonitico’, which occurs in the Umbro-Marchigiana Sedimentary Succession; black marls and marly clays similar to those used in opus tessellatum; onyx marble; (2) magmatic: porphyrites (‘porfido verde antico’) and gabbros (ophite); (3) marbles: different kinds of coloured marbles, comprising ‘marmo cipollino’, ‘rosso antico’, ‘pavonazzetto’, ‘portasanta’, ‘giallo antico’, ‘bigio antico’, ‘brecce coralline’. White marbles from Marmara and Carrara were also employed.     

Photoluminescence of the inorganic pigments Egyptian blue, Han blue and Han purple

The room-temperature photoluminescence spectra of various samples of Egyptian blue (CaCuSi₄O₁₀) are presented, discussed and compared with those of recently synthesized compounds corresponding to the ancient pigments Han blue (BaCuSi₄O₁₀) and Han purple (BaCuSi₂O₆). All the samples of Egyptian blue show identical spectra, in spite of their very different origin. The spectra of Han blue and Han purple are significantly different. Since the Cu²⁺ ion may be considered the only luminescent centre in the spectral range under investigation, the differences between the spectra of the various pigments are ascribed to a ligand-field change. This can be related to the larger size of the Ba²⁺ ion with respect to Ca²⁺. The use of PL spectra for the identification of these pigments in works of art is proposed.     

GPR technique as a tool for cultural heritage restoration: San Miguel de los Reyes Hieronymite Monastery, 16th century (Valencia,Spain)

This paper describes GPR (ground penetrating radar) surveys performed inside the crypt of the San Miguel de los Reyes Monastery (1546–1835) in order to detect the exact location of its founders' remains, the Dukes of Calabria (16th century). This Monastery was erected to house their family mausoleum and the bodies of the founders were buried near the high altar of the church (1645). However, in the 18th century, the tombs were exhumed to provide them with a worthier burial site: the crypt below the high altar. There is no documentation specifying the exact location of the tombs inside the crypt. Therefore, in order to reveal the exact location of the tombs the GPR survey was conducted inside the crypt.In our specific study, the available historical documentation led us to suppose that the Dukes of Calabria's remains were inside their mausoleums. However, after having performed the GPR analysis, we discovered that the mausoleums were solid and not hollow. The project required data collection on four areas in the crypt: the altar crypt, the Fernando de Aragón mausoleum, the Germana de Foix mausoleum and the floor between the two mausoleums and the altar.In this study, we have processed the GPR records in three different ways: the radargrams were processed in a standard manner, a detailed spectral analysis of all anomalous areas was carried out, and finally a 3D representation was generated. After this complete analysis we concluded that the bodies were not located inside their mausoleums, because they were shown to be solid. Besides, a burial site was located in the crypt subsurface near the Germana de Foix mausoleum, in which four different elements could be identified. Two of them may well be the tombs of the Dukes of Calabria and the other two the tombs of the Germana de Foix sisters.The results obtained in this survey are a good example of GPR application as an efficient and respectful tool for use in Cultural Heritage restoration studies, providing it with a very useful technique for similar projects such as those carried out in the restoration of historical buildings and those in which the elements to be examined are beneath a shallow coating of material.     

Microstructure,composition and processing of 15th century Vietnamese porcelains and celadons

Fifteenth century porcelains and celadons are the most interesting ancient Vietnamese ceramics, both from the material and aesthetic points of view. This paper reports on composition, microstructure and technological processing of the Chu Ðâu-My Xa (Hai Duong province) ceramics. Samples come either from the kiln site or from the Cù Lao Chàm (Hôi An) shipwreck. Chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, EDX analysis, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, thermal expansion/shrinkage and open porosity measurements were systematically performed. The results show the Ca (+K)-based glaze, high-temperature-fired bodies, by one- or multi-step firings. Mullite phase (3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂) was formed in large amount indicating the true porcelain quality of the samples under study. The matrices used for overglaze colouring (e.g., the green, red and metallic-lustre) are lead-based low-firing-temperature glasses. Comparison was made for the structural elements and fluxing agents between the 15th century Vietnamese porcelains and the time-corresponding Chinese ones.     

Integrated reflectography and thermography for wooden paintings diagnostics

The need of inspecting a masterpiece of fine art without affecting it led to develop non destructive methods of investigation. In the field of art conservation, several diagnostic techniques are being widely used to inspect works of art, giving different but complementary results. The present work deals with two of these methods, reflectography and thermography, both techniques examining objects in the infrared spectrum but in different wavelength bands. Their integrated data potentially provide a powerful tool for mapping hidden features and alterations of artworks. This was confirmed during the inspections of a 13th century panel painting under restoration at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure laboratories (Florence, Italy). A graphical user interface was also designed to aid operators in the field of conservation dealing with the results of the two IR methods. Many options such as image adjustment, comparison, overlaying and transparency variation, in addition to thermographic elaborations, have been made available to users. Imaging data integration provides a multi-layered and multi-spectral representation of the painting that yields a comprehensive diagnosis confirms the anomalies individuation and reduces the ambiguities of information coming from a single diagnostic method.     

Pore structure of historic and repair Roman cement mortars to establish their compatibility

Mercury porosimetry was applied to the study of pore structure of the historic Roman cement mortars representative of different locations in Europe and time periods as well as different application techniques from architectural castings to in situ formed renders and profiles. Three categories of pores were found to coexist in the mortars. The finest pores, with diameters below 0.1 μm, are present within the hardened aged Roman cement matrix. The larger ‘air’ pores, with diameters between 0.2–2 μm, are due to the evaporation of the excess unbound water and restricted hydration. Pores larger than 2 μm are rare and, in general, can be related to microcracking induced by shrinkage drying and mortar weathering. The mortars have rarely been found to develop a dense fine-porous microstructure characteristic of the ideal conditions of moist-curing; massive architectural castings being the only exception identified. The presence of larger ‘air’ pores was, in turn, almost universally observed. The investigations of the freshly prepared Roman cement mortars have revealed that the restricted hydration could be due to the exposure of the freshly laid surface to dry real-world external environments, a high water-to-cement ratio in the original mortars, or the drawing of water from the stucco mass due to insufficient pre-wetting of the porous masonry. The insufficient reactivity of historic cements, resulting from a high content of over-burned, non-reactive cement components or coarseness of the cement grains, could be another reason for yielding poorly hydrated mortars in the past. In general, Roman cement stuccoes are in an excellent state of preservation in spite of their usual exposure to polluted urban environments for more than a century. Therefore, the coexistence of Roman cement mortars of widely different pore structures has not brought about any problems of incompatibility which field observations could reveal. The Roman cement repair materials have been found to develop pore structures similar to those of historic mortars. Therefore, they are in broad terms compatible with historic masonry or stuccoes. However, the porosity and strength of the repair materials can be controlled by a careful manipulation of the water-to-cement ratio of the mix to adapt them better to the properties of the host material.     

Neorenaissance/Neobaroque stained glass windows from Madrid: a characterisation study on some panels signed by the Maumejean Fréres company

This paper reports results derived from a chemico-physical characterisation study undertaken on an important ensamble of early 20th century stained glass windows from Madrid and signed by the prestigious and well-known Maumejean Fréres company. The study is part of an on-going project of restoration and conservation carried out by the National Glass Centre Foundation (FCNV, La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia, Spain). The basic aim of the research was to assess their current state of conservation and to study the degree of damage suffered throughout the last century by different materials employed in their production, namely colourless and coloured glasses, grisailles, lead cames, and putties used to fix glass pieces into the lead cames. Selected samples from these materials were characterised through optical microscopy (OM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX), VIS spectrophotometry, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). As a general rule, most of them presented an acceptable state of conservation, without any of the known degradation phenomena of more ancient stained glasses (e.g. Medieval, Renaissance, etc.). However, some remarkable alterations were observed. Important deposits of soot and dirt particles coming from a polluted urban environment were detected, producing a slow blackening of the panels. Resulting data have been useful to design and optimise a combined conservation and restoration strategy in the recovery of this valuable legacy of early 20th century stained glass windows from Madrid.     

20th century artists’ oil paints: The case of the Olii by Lucio Fontana

During the 20th century, many innovative binders have been rapidly introduced to the art world and soon became popular as artists’ paints and pictorial media. However, despite the advantages that new synthetic materials presented, oil paints have never been entirely substituted. Indeed, this paper focuses on the results provided by the scientific analysis of a group works from the oeuvre of Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), all of which created between 1960 and 1964 using oil-based media, and aims to illustrate how oils contained in the pictorial media have influenced these works’ respective ageing and degradation processes. Despite the apparent coherence in the behaviour of many of Fontana's creations, some artworks revealed discrepancies in terms of the physical and mechanical behaviour of the pictorial films and in alterations resulting from degradation processes. Samples taken from case studies belonging to the Olii and Fine di Dio series were analysed using optical microscopy, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) in order to study and identify the materials employed by the artist and the products of their degradation processes. These analyses gave unexpected but useful results (such as the presence of non-drying or slow-drying oils in the paint formulations) which not only provided us with new insight into the nature of the constituent materials, but also facilitated the elaboration of correct conservation measures and suitable restoration interventions.     

Chemical analyses of ancient glass findings excavated in the Venetian lagoon

Although Venice is regarded as being one of the most important centres of glass manufacture and trade in Western Europe, little is known about the origins of the Venetian glassmaking. Some archaeologists suggest there is a continuity in the history of glass making, in its transplantation from the Roman centres of the mainland (Altino and Aquileia), first to some islands of the lagoon, and later to the town. Some others, instead, think that there was no continuity at all and that the art of glassmaking was imported in Venice from the Islamic glass factories of the Middle East. Of great help in answering this and other technological questions is the information about the composition of ancient glass from well-dated excavations that allows to conclude on the early technology, sources of raw materials and long-distance trade. Some significant glass findings, including fragments of pots used for glass melting, were found on the island of Torcello and, more recently, in two emergency excavations in the historic centre of Venice. In this paper, the chemical composition of a large set of glass findings (and related materials) from the Venetian lagoon dating from the 7th to the 13th centuries is determined by X-ray microanalysis in order to throw new light on the glassmaking technology in the early centuries of the Venetian tradition. The results show that in this period there occurred a gradual transition from the Roman technique (a two-ingredient formulation with silica-lime sand and natron as a fluxer), towards the use of silica sand and soda plant ash. There is evidence, therefore, for a production continuity with the Roman period (melting pots and glass scraps with a natron-based composition), yet restricted to transparent blown items. No evidence was found for a local production of glass tesserae for the mosaics of the church of St. Maria Assunta in Torcello.