Articles

Synthetic materials in art: a new comprehensive approach for the characterization of multi-material artworks by analytical pyrolysis

Modern art materials introduced since the end of XIX century include a large number of formulations of synthetic polymers and pigments, whose degradation processes and best preservation conditions are a major ...

Authors: Jacopo La Nasa, Greta Biale, Francesca Sabatini, Ilaria Degano, Maria Perla Colombini and Francesca Modugno

Non-invasive identification of paint binders in illuminated manuscripts by ER-FTIR spectroscopy: a systematic study of the influence of different pigments on the binders’ characteristic spectral features

This paper presents the results of a study of pigment-binder systems painted on parchment, both in the form of reference samples prepared in the laboratory, and of medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscri...

Authors: Luca Nodari and Paola Ricciardi

3D finite element coupled analysis model for geotechnical and complex structural problems of historic masonry structures: conservation of Abu Serga church, Cairo, Egypt

This research presents the damage mechanism of a historical masonry architecture induced by differential settlement based on 3D FE analysis. The purpose of the study was to investigate the behavior fully-satur...

Authors: Sayed Hemeda

Interactions on site between powdering porous limestone, natural salt mixtures and applied ammonium oxalate

The consolidation of powdering porous limestone with ammonium oxalate treatment is hereby being examined through its performance in the field. The literature to date reports this treatment’s potential use for ...

Authors: Tabitha Dreyfuss

Acid solution decreases the compressional wave velocity of sandstone from the Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China

To understand the effects of an acidic environment on the internal structure of sandstone from the Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China, the physicochemical properties of fresh and weathered sandstone samples and t...

Authors: Hong Geng, Shijie Zhang, Jianhui Zhi, Runping Zhang, Jianguang Ren and Chul-Un Ro

In situ non-invasive multianalytical methodology to characterize mosaic tesserae from the House of Gilded Cupids, Pompeii

Mosaics, one of the most important decorative artworks in the Roman culture, were usually elaborated with a set of tesserae joined with lime or others binders to form geometric or figurative decorations. The i...

Authors: Iker Marcaida, Maite Maguregui, Héctor Morillas, Nagore Prieto-Taboada, Marco Veneranda, Silvia Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo, Alberta Martellone, Bruno De Nigris, Massimo Osanna and Juan Manuel Madariaga

Colouring of Pacific barkcloths: identification of the brown, red and yellow colourants used in the decoration of historic Pacific barkcloths

Barkcloth textiles made in the Pacific islands and collected by western explorers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries form part of many museum collections worldwide. Here high-performance liquid chromat...

Authors: T. H. Flowers, M. J. Smith and J. Brunton

Unveiling Harriet Backer: ICP–OES study for the characterisation of the colour tubes from her original paint box

Micro-samples from 57 original paint tubes used between 1904 and 1909 by the Norwegian painter, Harriet Backer were studied with inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES). This accurat...

Authors: Francesco Caruso, Sara Mantellato, Noëlle L. W. Streeton and Tine Frøysaker

Navigating conservation strategies: linking material research on alum-treated wood from the Oseberg collection to conservation decisions

From the mid-1800s to the late 1950s, conservation by alum salts (aluminum potassium sulfate dodecahydrate)—with some variations—was a routine method for treating highly deteriorated waterlogged archaeological...

Authors: Susan Braovac, Caitlin M. A. McQueen, Malin Sahlstedt, Hartmut Kutzke, Jeannette J. Łucejko and Torunn Klokkernes

Multi-instrumental approach with archival research to study the Norwich textile industry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: the example of a Norwich pattern book dated c. 1790–1793

Merchant-manufacturers in Norwich, a major centre for textile production in England, used pattern books and pattern cards containing swatches of worsted and worsted mixed with other yarns to facilitate sales a...

Authors: Jocelyn Alcántara-García and Michael Nix

Ink marks, bronze crossbows and their implications for the Qin Terracotta Army

At the heart of bureaucratic practice during Warring States and early Imperial China were regular, small acts of accountancy in which objects and people were marked so that their movements could be kept track ...

Authors: Andrew Bevan, Xiuzhen Li, Zhen Zhao, Jianhua Huang, Stuart Laidlaw, Na Xi, Yin Xia, Shengtao Ma and Marcos Martinon-Torres

Synchrotron tts-µXRD identification of secondary phases in ancient ceramics

The study of the alteration process, and in particular of secondary phases precipitated in pottery after its production, can constrain the post-depositional environments or the type of use of the pottery. Deta...

Authors: Lara Maritan, Lluís Casas, Anna Crespi, Elisa Gravagna, Jordi Rius, Oriol Vallcorba and Donatella Usai

Reconstructing ancient architecture at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the potential and promise of 3D printing

The ruins of Tiwanaku (A.D. 500–950), in the modern republic of Bolivia, present an archaeological challenge owing to intense looting during the colonial period that effectively demolished the site. One buildi...

Authors: Alexei Vranich

Indoor air pollution impact on cultural heritage in an urban and a rural location in Romania: the National military museum in Bucharest and the Tismana monastery in Gorj County

Assessment was performed of the air quality related risk to the conservation of cultural heritage objects in one urban and one rural indoor location in Romania, with expected different air quality related cons...

Authors: Terje Grøntoft and Octaviana Marincas

Hygro-mechanical response of oak wood cabinet door panels under relative humidity fluctuations

Indoor climate fluctuations are regarded as one of the major risks for the emergence of damage in historical works of art. For a safe preservation of their art objects museums try to minimize this risk, which ...

Authors: R. A. Luimes, A. S. J. Suiker, A. J. M. Jorissen, P. H. J. C. van Duin and H. L. Schellen

Response to rebuttal by Grima et al. elaborating on misleading conclusion in paper on “Pollution Monitoring for Sea Salt Aerosols at Hagar Qim-A Pilot Study” concerning salt decay after sheltering an archaeological site in Malta

Authors: JoAnn Cassar, Shirley Cefai, Reuben Grima and Katya Stroud

A rebuttal in defence of misinterpretation of the Galea et al. 2016 paper entitled “Pollution monitoring for sea salt aerosols and other anionic species at Hagar Qim Temples, Malta: a pilot study”

Authors: Matthew Grima, Mario Galea and Roslyn DeBattista

Five years of Heritage Science: from aborigine cave paintings to the Domesday book and Bayeux tapestry and to Dorothy’s ruby red slippers via van Gogh’s colours, Magritte’s missing quarters, and Qing calligraphy, with the sights, sounds, smells and taste of the past

Authors: Richard G. Brereton

Traces in the desert: use of new technologies for the study and valorization of the Pachacamac sanctuary—Lima, Peru

Through time, the large ceremonial centers of the Peruvian pre-Hispanic coast have played an important role as Pachacamac, renowned for its famous oracle, which was an important site for cult and pilgrimage, w...

Authors: Denise Pozzi-Escot, Janet Oshiro, Gerardo Romano, Luigi Capozzoli, Rosa Lasaponara and Nicola Masini

Improved region growing algorithm for the calibration of flaking deterioration in ancient temple murals

Ancient murals are vulnerable to varying degrees of damage due to long-term exposure to external environmental factors such as light, temperature and humidity. Enabling people to appreciate the original featur...

Authors: Jianfang Cao, Yanfei Li, Hongyan Cui and Qi Zhang

Temperature- and humidity-induced changes in alum-treated wood: a qualitative X-ray diffraction study

Alum-treated wooden artefacts suffer from extreme deterioration, and the stability of these objects and the salts they contain to variations in climate conditions is an important issue. Responses of potassium ...

Authors: Caitlin M. A. McQueen, Calin C. Steindal, Olga Narygina and Susan Braovac

Novel characterization techniques for cultural heritage using a TEM orientation imaging in combination with 3D precession diffraction tomography: a case study of green and white ancient Roman glass tesserae

We present new transmission electron microscopy (TEM) based electron diffraction characterization techniques (orientation imaging combined with 3D precession electron diffraction tomography-ADT) applied on cul...

Authors: Stavros Nicolopoulos, Partha P. Das, Pablo J. Bereciartua, Fotini Karavasili, Nikolaos Zacharias, Alejandro Gómez Pérez, Athanassios S. Galanis, Edgar F. Rauch, Raúl Arenal, Joaquim Portillo, Josep Roqué-Rosell, Maria Kollia and Irene Margiolaki

New insights into iron-gall inks through the use of historically accurate reconstructions

Iron-gall inks have been described as complexes of iron ions with gallic or tannic acids, available in gall extracts. To assess this working hypothesis, we have prepared medieval inks using ingredients and met...

Authors: Rafael Javier Díaz Hidalgo, Ricardo Córdoba, Paula Nabais, Valéria Silva, Maria J. Melo, Fernando Pina, Natércia Teixeira and Victor Freitas

Materials characterization of the Ruby Slippers from the 1939 classic film, The Wizard of Oz

This article presents a comprehensive materials characterization of a pair of Ruby Slippers used in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz, which has been one of the most popular objects on exhibition at Smithson...

Authors: Janet G. Douglas, Gwénaëlle Kavich, Chika Mori, Dawn Wallace and Richard Barden

Differential earthquake footprints on the masonry styles at Qal’at al-Subayba (Nimrod fortress) support the theory of its ancient origin

Qal’at al-Subayba (Nimrod Fortress), one of the largest medieval fortresses in the Middle East, is strategically located above the city of Banias on the ancient highway from Tyre to Damascus. Scholars have att...

Authors: Alon Margalit

Characterization of pigments and binders in a mural painting from the Andean church of San Andrés de Pachama (northernmost of Chile)

The Andean church of San Andrés de Pachama is located in the highland of the northernmost of Chile, near the limit with Bolivia and next to the Ruta de la Plata. This commercial route contributed in the past to t...

Authors: Eugenia P. Tomasini, José Cárcamo, Diana M. Castellanos Rodríguez, Valeria Careaga, Sebastián Gutiérrez, Carlos Rúa Landa, Marcela Sepúlveda, Fernando Guzman, Magdalena Pereira, Gabriela Siracusano and Marta S. Maier

The Hidden Face of Cultural Heritage: a science window for the dissemination of elementary knowledge of risk and vulnerability in cultural heritage

The dissemination of research in cultural heritage preservation to the public is a task that needs new models and expressions, to capture the attention of the public and the assessment of results. With this pu...

Authors: Pilar Ortiz, Rocío Ortiz, José María Martín, Rosario Rodríguez-Griñolo, María Auxiliadora Vázquez, María Auxiliadora Gómez-Morón, Marta Sameño, Luisa Loza, Carmen Guerra, Juan Manuel Macías-Bernal and Javier Becerra

The limited impact of acetic acid in archives and libraries

For over two decades the exposure of paper heritage collections to outdoor and indoor generated gaseous pollutants has been perceived as an important threat to their preservation. Following explicit or implici...

Authors: Frank Ligterink and Giovanna Di Pietro

X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and chemical analysis (EDX and XRF) used in conjunction for cultural conservation: the case of the earliest scientifically described dinosaur Megalosaurus bucklandii

This paper demonstrates the combined use of X-ray computed tomography (XCT), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to evaluate the conservational history of the dentary (lower...

Authors: P. F. Wilson, M. P. Smith, J. Hay, J. M. Warnett, A. Attridge and M. A. Williams

Two-step analytical procedure for the characterization and quantification of metal soaps and resinates in paint samples

Metal soaps and resinates are known to be spontaneously formed in artistic paintings, as a product of the reaction between aliphatic and terpenoid acids released by hydrolysis and oxidation of the organic medi...

Authors: Jacopo La Nasa, Anna Lluveras-Tenorio, Francesca Modugno and Ilaria Bonaduce

Unveiling the invisible: mathematical methods for restoring and interpreting illuminated manuscripts

The last 50 years have seen an impressive development of mathematical methods for the analysis and processing of digital images, mostly in the context of photography, biomedical imaging and various forms of en...

Authors: Luca Calatroni, Marie d’Autume, Rob Hocking, Stella Panayotova, Simone Parisotto, Paola Ricciardi and Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb

Materials and techniques of Islamic manuscripts

Over 50 works on paper from Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Central Asia dated from the 13th to 19th centuries were examined and analyzed at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies. Forty-six of these w...

Authors: Penley Knipe, Katherine Eremin, Marc Walton, Agnese Babini and Georgina Rayner

On the formation of hörnesite in a Fatimid manuscript folio

A folio fragment attributed to the Fatimid period in Egypt was found to bear tufts of white crystals associated with the orange-brown and yellow paints. Raman spectroscopy identified a mixture of arsenic sulfi...

Authors: Yana van Dyke, Silvia A. Centeno, Federico Carò, James H. Frantz and Mark T. Wypyski

Microbial erosion assessment on waterlogged archaeological woods (WAWs) from a Chinese ancient shipwreck, Nanhai No. 1

This article aims at identifying the timber species of Nanhai No. 1, an ancient shipwreck (Song Dynasty, 800 years ago) sunk in the South China Sea, finding out the types of bacteria that corrode the wood comp...

Authors: Mengge Gao, Qinfen Zhang, Xinxin Feng, Dong Chen, Jian Sun, Yong Cui and Runlin Xu

Antimicrobial engineered nanoparticles in the built cultural heritage context and their ecotoxicological impact on animals and plants: a brief review

Nanoparticles (NPs) of metal oxides, sometimes referred to as engineered nanoparticles have been used to protect building surfaces against biofilm formation for many years, but their history in the Cultural He...

Authors: Manuela Reyes-Estebanez, Benjamín Otto Ortega-Morales, Manuel Chan-Bacab, Carlos Granados-Echegoyen, Juan Carlos Camacho-Chab, Juan Enrique Pereañez-Sacarias and Christine Gaylarde

Indoor mould testing in a historic building: Blickling Hall

Indoor mould growth is a growing concern for all stakeholders of built environment, including residents, builders, insurance and building remediation industry as well as custodians of heritage buildings. The N...

Authors: Yasemin Didem Aktas, Jiaqi Shi, Nigel Blades and Dina D’Ayala

Assessing the condition of the Domesday Books from the visual to the molecular

This article presents a collaborative study to determine the condition within volumes of the Great and Little Domesday Book, held in The National Archives, UK. Advances in technology in both biochemical and bi...

Authors: Nancy Bell, René Larsen, Kate Patten, Dorte V. P. Sommer, Michael Drakopoulos and Tim Wess

Technical examination of the Emerson-White Book of Hours: observations on pigment preferences and media application in a Flemish manuscript

The Emerson-White Hours (MS Typ 443–443.1, Houghton Library, Harvard University) is a book of hours and missal produced in Valenciennes, Bruges, and Ghent in the late 1470s or early 1480s. There are seven full...

Authors: Debora D. Mayer, Hope Mayo, Erin Mysak, Theresa J. Smith and Katherine Eremin

Relating volatiles analysis by GC–MS to Oddy test performance for determining the suitability of museum construction materials

Conservators’ decisions regarding the suitability of museum construction materials for use in proximity to artworks still rely heavily on accelerated corrosion tests like the Oddy test despite widespread criti...

Authors: Michael J. Samide, Mary C. Liggett, Jericha Mill and Gregory D. Smith

Separating two painting campaigns in Saul and David, attributed to Rembrandt, using macroscale reflectance and XRF imaging spectroscopies and microscale paint analysis

Late paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) offer intriguing problems for both art historians and conservation scientists. In the research presented here, the key question addressed is whether observed st...

Authors: Kathryn A. Dooley, E. Melanie Gifford, Annelies van Loon, Petria Noble, Jason G. Zeibel, Damon M. Conover, Matthias Alfeld, Geert Van der Snickt, Stijn Legrand, Koen Janssens, Joris Dik and John K. Delaney

Mass spectrometry identification of the liquor contained in the plum vase excavated from Jurou Li’s Grave of the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234 CE) in Xi’an, Shannxi, China

In order to accurately identify the ancient liquid contained in the plum vase excavated from Jurou Li’s Grave of the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234 CE) in Xi’an, mass spectrometry was applied to determine the amino ac...

Authors: Zhanyun Zhu, Chunlei Yu, Yifei Miao, Zhiyong Lu and Junchang Yang

The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators’ manual

The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books invites readers to step inside the workshop of a fifteenth century illuminator in Portugal. This illuminator was the carrier of a tradition on ...

Authors: Maria J. Melo, Rita Castro, Paula Nabais and Tatiana Vitorino

A novel LC–MS method using collagen marker peptides for species identification of glue applicable to samples with multiple animal origins

Animal glues derived from collagen-rich tissue are widely used as adhesives and binders in artworks. Identification of the animal source of glue is important not only to understand the artistic technique and h...

Authors: Yuki Kumazawa, Yuki Taga, Miho Takashima and Shunji Hattori

Comparing the effectiveness of hyperspectral imaging and Raman spectroscopy: a case study on Armenian manuscripts

There is great practical and scholarly interest in the identification of pigments in works of art. This paper compares the effectiveness of the widely used Raman Spectroscopy (RS), with hyperspectral imaging (...

Authors: Ian J. Maybury, David Howell, Melissa Terras and Heather Viles

The occurrence of a titanium dioxide/silica white pigment on wooden Andean qeros: a cultural and chronological marker

A white pigment found on a sub-set of polychromed wooden Andean ritual drinking cups called qeros has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy as consisti...

Authors: Ellen Howe, Emily Kaplan, Richard Newman, James H. Frantz, Ellen Pearlstein, Judith Levinson and Odile Madden

In-situ multi-analytical characterization of original and decay materials from unique wall mirrors in the House of Gilded Cupids, Pompeii

The House of Gilded Cupids (Regio VI, Insula 16, 7, 38) was unquestionably one of the most important residences of Ancient Pompeii, where important archaeological artefacts such as mural paintings, mosaics, sc...

Authors: Marco Veneranda, Silvia Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo, Nagore Prieto-Taboada, Maite Maguregui, Iker Marcaida, Héctor Morillas, Alberta Martellone, Bruno de Nigris, Massimo Osanna, Kepa Castro and Juan Manuel Madariaga

Colourants made from aphids and ivy gum

The purpose of this study was to determine whether workable flesh-toned paints can be made from colourants from aphid insects and ivy gum using medieval gum and scale insect recipes. The processes of extractin...

Authors: Nabil Ali

The Huánuco Pampa acoustical field survey: an efficient, comparative archaeoacoustical method for studying sonic communication dynamics

The 2015 acoustical field survey on and around the central plaza platform (“ushnu”) at the Inca administrative complex of Huánuco Pampa advances understanding of Inca communication dynamics and innovates archa...

Authors: Miriam A. Kolar, R. Alan Covey and José Luis Cruzado Coronel

Wood preservation with gold hydroxyapatite system

Over centuries, the external factors such as fire, low temperature, light or microbiological agents, act on the wood and induce some degradation processes, sometimes irreversible, identified by discoloration, ...

Authors: Rodica-Mariana Ion, Tebello Nyokong, Nnamdi Nwahara, Ioana-Raluca Suica-Bunghez, Lorena Iancu, Sofia Teodorescu, Ioana Daniela Dulama, Raluca Maria Stirbescu, Anca Gheboianu and Ramona Marina Grigorescu

Discovery and multi-analytical study of the last missing quarter from René Magritte’s La pose enchantée

The last missing quarter of La pose enchantée, a 1927 Magritte’s oil painting disappeared in 1932, has been finally found beneath Dieu n’est pas un saint, picture painted by the Belgian surrealist between 1935 an...

Authors: Catherine Defeyt, Elodie Herens, Frederik Leen, Francisca Vandepitte and David Strivay