Technical Art History

This paper will explore the value of technical analysis for art historical enquiry. Through the study of a number of case studies on 17th-century Spanish paintings it will argue the importance of technical analysis, and how the information this reveals, along with previous historical knowledge, improve the practice of Art History.
Aside from studying previously published research papers, it includes the original case study of a representation of ‘Saint Peter Martyr’ attributed to Miguel de Tovar. These will all focus on the technical analysis of the works and the research that can support their results. This dissertation can be viewed as a practical study, of sorts, that will consider the work of art historians and perceive technical analysis as a tool to help gain a further understanding of the history of art.

Metal printing has rapidly become one of the most popular choices in modern printing technology, especially in the fields of photography, interior décor, and professional branding. Unlike traditional paper prints or canvas, this method involves printing directly onto specially coated aluminum sheets. The result is a sleek, durable, and high-definition finish that enhances both colors and details, making metal printing a premium choice for artists, businesses, and homeowners alike. What is Metal Printing? Metal printing is a process where images, artwork, or designs are infused into a coated aluminum surface using a dye sublimation or direct printing technique. This creates a vibrant and longlasting print that resists fading, scratches, and moisture. The glossy or matte finish options add depth and sophistication, making the artwork look as though it is floating off the surface.

Gedruckte Bilder und abgeformte Bildwerke haben eines gemeinsam: Sie gehen auf ‚Urformen‘ zurück, zu denen sie in einem spannungsreichen Verhältnis stehen. Auf mechanischem Wege – mit Hilfe einer Matrize, eines Models, eines Druckstocks oder einer Druckplatte – hergestellt, behaupten sie einen Ähnlichkeitsbezug zu ihrer Vorlage, von der sie sich doch zugleich in technischer, materieller und formaler Hinsicht unterscheiden. Auch die vervielfältigten Werke sind untereinander keineswegs identisch. Sie basieren zwar auf einer gemeinsamen Negativform, unterliegen jedoch den mehr oder weniger kalkulierten Bedingtheiten und Zufälligkeiten des Fertigungsprozesses und werden häufig nachträglich per Hand weiterbearbeitet. Der Vielgestaltigkeit des scheinbar Gleichen sind die in diesem Band versammelten Aufsätze gewidmet. Anhand von Fallbeispielen aus dem 15. bis 18. Jahrhundert untersuchen sie die Varianten und Varianzen mechanisch vervielfältigter Werke und lenken so den Blick auf die Variabilität, die den zwei- und dreidimensionalen Abdruck- und Abformungsverfahren eingeschrieben ist.

Le geste artistique, que ce soit dans le domaine musical, celui des arts visuels ou de la danse, est fondamentalement un acte technique qui pose la question de sa transmission, de sa reproduction, de son perfectionnement. Le geste artistique s’inscrit dans une histoire des savoir-faire et des communautés de transmission. Il appelle l’étude des médiations permettant
sa persistance, ses métamorphoses, ses éventuelles résurgences.
Si le geste devient artistique par la technique, il peut aussi la contrarier : qu’on pense au dripping de Jackson Pollock, à la danse libre d’Isadora Duncan, aux expérimentations musicales de John Cage et leur influence sur les arts figuratifs, plus largement à la valorisation de la création spontanée, contraire à l’habileté artisanale ou à la virtuosité technique.

This paper describes the fabrication process of large format cartoons in the 19th century based on case studies and source literature. Four cartoons by Leopold Kupelwieser, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Eduard Bitterlich and Gustav Klimt were examined, focussing on art technological aspects such as the type of paper and its preparation, drawing media and fixation methods. Furthermore, traces of use and re-use such as changes in the drawing or its format, early repairs and pounced or incised lines were documented and interpreted. The findings will demonstrate technological changes in the 19th century, but will also give an insight into the artist's individual preferences and use of materials and techniques. Technological examinations are complemented with descriptions of working methods given by the artists themselves or their contemporaries and clients.Cartoons have always been viewed as artworks of their own means and at the same time as more utilitarian working aids. This study will enhance the comprehension of the meaning of cartoons in a larger context, their original intent and the specific role they played in the workshop process

From 1848 until 1850, the Austrian artist Leopold Kupelwieser decorated the Ceremonial Hall of the Niederösterreichische Statthalterei (Lower Austrian government building) with a series of frescoes illustrating Austria's history. At the time, this ambitious endeavour was unprecedented in Austria in terms of complexity of the subject, monumentality of scale and choice of technique. This study is an attempt to reconstruct the creative process from a recently discovered first-written concept to the final fresco paintings, using over 100 sketches, watercolours and studies as well as 36 cartoons and written sources such as letters and contracts, most of them stored at the Niederösterreichische Landesmuseum (State Museum of Lower Austria). The artist's materials were analysed and compared to technological source literature as well as other artists' works of the time. Traces of fabrication and usage on Kupelwieser's sketches and cartoons were carefully construed, allowing a unique insight into both the conceptual and material developments of the artist's work.

In 2002, Bancaja Foundation acquired a painting by Joan de Joanes, hitherto known only in references. After having taken the opportunity to restore it, the Marian iconography was studied, confirming its authorship and pointing out a possible origin, namely the convent of San Agustin of Valencia.

World (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978), Eastlake had experienced considerable criticism in the first cleaning controversy at the National Gallery, when he resigned as keeper in 1846. The book on the government inquiry is many hundreds of pages long. As an example of the attitudes to conservation in nineteenth-century Europe, it makes fascinating reading even today. Almost everyone of consequence in the European art world testified about restoration at the National Gallery. When Eastlake was appointed the first director in 1853, he was mindful to avoid a similar controversy. Before the unification of Italy in 1861, Molteni's office was also where paintings awaited approval to be exported and while waiting were inevitably subject to examination by him and his well-informed friends. Hayes states that Molteni restored only eight paintings for Eastlake, but there are at least double that number described in Molteni's letters to his friend Morelli. In conclusion, what about the central thesis of the book? Certainly, these restorers did contribute to our perception of the Renaissance and have affected how art historical opinion has been formed over the last two centuries. These early restorers changed the appearance of works of art at a time when crucial texts in art history were written. My admiration is for the Renaissance artists themselves, whose works were and are so robust as to withstand the constant alterations of the conservation confraternity in any age. Sven Dupré and Jenny Boulboullé, eds., Histories of Conservation and Art History in Modern Europe. Abingdon: Routledge, 2022. Pp. 240. £120.00 (cloth), £33.29 (e-book). Humanities and natural sciences converge in the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage and in its material-technical examination. The volume under review unrolls key episodes in the history of employing scientific methods and techniques in examining artworks. This volume follows the "Making of Art Expertise" conference held in the Amsterdam and Utrecht in 2019. Accordingly, it relates how cultural heritage professionals have leveraged their expertise to shape and reshape the dialogue between the humanities and the sciences. It paints a picture in fourteen chapters: an introduction, twelve case studies, and a postface. Sven Dupré's introduction sets out the book's scope and the scholarly tradition that it is part of. It largely discusses the period between the 1890s and the 1940s. Its geographical foci are Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In these areas lie the principal roots of what are nowadays more broadly known as

Ten references to damage in art technological treatises and recipe collections from the west European Middle Ages between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries are discussed. These types of references trigger the reader to anticipate damage when making or handling artworks. A re-enactment of a silver cleaning recipe from the Mappae clavicula tradition was conducted. This recipe claims to be a method that causes no harm to the silver. During the process the references to damage triggered me to slow down and recalibrate my gestures with consideration for potential harm to the object. Additionally, this enhanced awareness pointed me towards other research questions that may shed light on valuing and preserving silver in the Middle Ages. A preliminary survey of textual references to damage in medieval art technological recipes is presented. Based on nine examples, references to damage in medieval texts that treat making and handling art can be organised in three categories: prevention, breakage and care. Prevention introduces the prospect of damage to an artwork when making or otherwise handling it. Breakage refers to damage or defects of any kind occurring during the working process and instructions on how to fix it immediately. The third category gives instructions to remedy the damages an art object may sustain over time. Individual references to damage touch upon what may threaten the useful lifespan of specific types of artworks. These are valuable sources to enrich our understanding of medieval ideas about the durability of art.

This dissertation centres around the aesthetic ideal of splendour that defined the art of medieval western Europe well into the fifteenth century. Splendour entails the interaction between opulent materials and light. In practice, these materials were: colourants, gemstones, glass and precious metals. Much has been written about the visual effects of splendour, but this dissertation is the first study on medieval patrons’ and artisans’ ideas about the endurance of those visual effects throughout time – in other words, the durability of splendour. In doing so, this dissertation follows the meaning of durability in sources on the commissioning of splendid art, its manufacture and the judgement of an end product. Chapter 1 examines the meaning of durability during the phase of commissioning splendid art. A corpus of 166 commission contracts composed between 1272 and 1459 forms the heart of the chapter. Most of these agreements between patrons and artisans use broad evaluative concepts like ‘good’ to stipulate the quality of materials and artisanship. Chapter 1 applies the theory of frame semantics to analyse these evaluative terms. This theory proposes that words derive their meaning from shared conceptual frameworks between people. Applying frame semantics to medieval commission contracts shows that patrons saw the durability of artworks as contingent upon two pillars: the quality of the most precious surface materials and structural stability. Chapter 2 follows the theme of structural stability throughout narrative sources on art production and art-technological recipes. Occasionally, narrative and instructional texts allocate prestige to structural components like adhesives or stitching by emphasising the structural stability that they afford. Chapter 2 compares such references in a selection of narrative texts such as those by Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis and St. Hildegard von Bingen, in the art-technological treatises of Theophilus Presbyter and Cennino Cennini and in a selection of anonymous art-technological recipes. This comparative reading shows that the authors of those texts spotlighted structural components through well-known rhetorical devices and principally did so when discussing art made with the most precious of splendid materials: gemstones and gold. Chapter 3 zooms in on reliquaries, as they draw relics into the aesthetic of splendour by encasing them in precious materials and in doing so enhance the durability of relics. Chapter 3 combines material-technical analysis of a châsse-type reliquary and two ostensorium-type reliquaries from Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht with other technical examination reports and medieval texts on reliquaries. This analysis suggests that medieval patrons mainly focused on the material durability of reliquaries and that artisans influenced people’s engagement with reliquaries through specific construction techniques. On the other hand, the message communicated through the interaction between relic and reliquary often proved its least durable aspect. Through a comparative reading of sources this dissertation concludes that, for medieval patrons and artisans, the durability of splendid art was something to anticipate and to appreciate. Patrons and artisans attributed meaning to durability by navigating between concrete anticipation and laudatory appreciation depending on whether they commissioned splendid art, communicated about aspects of manufacturing or engaged with an end product.

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

A limestone relief fragment with a figure in a winged disk from the fifth-century BCE Hall of 100 Columns at Persepolis in southwestern Iran that entered the Harvard Art Museums' collections in 1943 preserves significant traces of its original coloration and has played a key role in the rediscovery of polychromy at the Achaemenid Persian capital. After tracing the fragment's journey to Cambridge, MA, this article presents the results of recent technical studies of its pigment remains, including visible light-induced infrared luminescence (VIL) imaging, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, and the analysis of micro samples by Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and polarizing light microscopy (PLM). The new scientific data is compared to the findings of ongoing investigations of polychromies at Persepolis and other Achaemenid Persian sites and evaluated for the information it can and cannot provide on the original appearance of the figure in the winged disk, likely the Zoroastrian god Ahuramazda. The article reviews past attempts at reconstructing the relief's coloration and the assumptions that guided them, recounts the experience of creating a tangible three-dimensional color reconstruction for an exhibition, and concludes with some general thoughts on the valuation of colorfulness.

Fragmented objects from a devotional past. Wooden polychrome sculptures in the diocese of Turku in the long fourteenth century

This dissertation deals with wooden polychrome sculptures preserved in Finnish museum collections and churches. The sculptures were originally used by the parishes of the Diocese of Turku during the long fourteenth century (c. 1250-1400). The study fills a gap in our knowledge of the sculptures acquired for churches in mainland Finland in particular.
An earlier, extensive study of this material was published in the 1960s (Nordman 1965). The following questions guided the study: 1. How many and what types of wooden polychrome sculptures have survived in Finland from the late 14th century, and where are these sculptures located today? 2. How do technical and scientific methods benefit the research of the origin, manufacture, and devotional use of the sculptures? How and why
have these sculptures fragmented and changed, and how does this affect their interpretation? This dissertation represents a research perspective that emphasizes the materiality and objectivity of works of art, where the long life cycle and fragmentary nature of the works are seen as an important focus of research, in addition to an interest in the original nature
and context of use of the works. The sculptures themselves are the main source of this research. In addition to the museums, the research trips were made to more than thirty churches to survey the material. In the end, 109 polychrome sculptures or fragments thereof were selected, forty-four of which are included in the case studies presented in the articles of
the dissertation. These case studies were carried out in a multidisciplinary collaboration with various experts and organizations. The study highlights the extent and the richness of the material and imagery. It also shows the fragility of the sculptures, their fragmentary nature, and the threats to their
preservation. The sculptures have been damaged in many ways during their long life. The challenges of the research were also related the sculptures’ difficult accessibility and the multiple ownership and management relationships. On the other hand, fragmentation
became a part of the conceptual framework of the dissertation and provided a starting point for complex research perspectives.
The technical and scientific methods used in the study included microscopic examination of the wood material, elemental analysis of color pigments, computed tomography (CT), and 14C scattering. The range of methods used in each case study was different. By combining the information generated by the technical methods with the results obtained
through comparative stylistic analysis and iconographic image interpretation, the perceptions of the sculptures’ origins, makers, dates, and devotional meanings were refined and changed.
The study highlighted some of the major sources of error in previous research. One of the most important observations is related to birch sculptures, perceived as ‘Finnish’ in
origin. Microscopic examination of their wood material revealed that many of them were
carved of alder or linden. Furthermore, by examining the wood species of the sculptures from the perspectives of their distribution, availability, and workability, our understanding of the areas of sculpture production and the makers of the sculptures became more diverse. However, this required the inclusion of an analysis of the subject matter and form in the range of methods. Another change in the research paradigm is that no particular material or stylistic feature support the notion of Gotland’s importance as a source of sculpture. The very different degree of preservation of the reference material in the neighboring regions of Finland—
Sweden and Estonia — inevitably has an impact on the results of the study.
The thesis demonstrated the importance of polychromy in the iconographic interpretation of sculptures. The crucifix of the Marttila church was placed more clearly than before in the context of the devotional and literary culture of the early fourteenth century. In this
context, the remembrance of Christ’s suffering and identification with it, as well as the compassion with Mary’s grief, played a central role. The artwork was examined from different angles and approaches, thus revealing its mobility more clearly than before. These observations are important because there has been little previous scholarly discussion in
Finland about the different contexts and functions of the crucifixes.
In the case of the sculpture of an unknown saint in Nousiainen, the study paid attention not only to the form and surface treatment, but also to the sculpture's structure. Imaging studies revealed a metal object and organic material inside the head of the saint. These were interpreted as possible relics. The study raised the question of the sculptures as reliquaries, although the interpretation of the findings was preliminary. The use of technical research methods should take into account their potential sources of error, as well as ethical issues related to their invasiveness. In addition, the study of sculptures on display in churches should take into account the religious and communal meanings still attached to them.
I consider it important that this thesis promotes awareness of the medieval sculptures and draws attention to the importance of their care. Unsuitable storage conditions and the improper handling pose a real threat to the survival of these unique artworks for future generations.
Translation by Lisa Muszynski

This article presents an investigation of a 14th-century polychrome wood crucifix from the Marttila Church (Sankt Mårtens in Swedish), and other stylistically closely related crucifixes in the medieval diocese of Turku (Åbo), Finland. The article discusses the function of the polychromy in illustrating Christ's Passion and communicating its meaning to viewers. A technical analysis of the Marttila crucifix showed that the original polychromy was of a high technical and artistic standard. The examination also established a firm basis for further iconographical and comparative style analyses. The main argument is that the polychromy strengthens the sculpture's capacity to aid in mnemonic reflection and affective contemplation. It is also argued that the purchase of crucifixes with similar kinds of polychromies for other parish churches in the region may reflect a change in devotional and ritual practices, and possibly even St. Birgitta's (Birgitta Birgersdotter, 1302/1303-1373) personal influence in the diocese during the 1340s. This study provides new insights into the significance of polychromy for iconographical analyses, even if preserved in a fragmented form. Thus, the article contributes to the understanding of the visual tradition of depicting the crucified Christ in the Late Middle Ages.

In Literature and Artistic Practice in the Sixteenth Century Angela Cerasuolo, art historian and restorer, tracks the technical processes of painting through the cross-analysis of literary texts and works of art. Having traced the critical fortunes of the texts of the authors—Leonardo, Vasari, Armenini, Borghini, Lomazzo—she compares the information on drawing and painting, analysing the specific terminology, and identifying the materials and methods. Central themes of the theoretical debate—‘disegno’, ‘invenzione’, the contrast between ‘prestezza’ and ‘diligenza’, the ‘paragone’—are examined in the light of their relationship with the techniques. On the basis of scientific studies on the technical execution of paintings, works from the Capodimonte Museum, Naples are analysed as case studies.

This study discusses recent a technical study of 20 panel paintings in the King's Room at Westwood Manor, which form one of the few early modern British portrait sets to remain displayed within a holistic decorative scheme. Technical evidence was interpreted to elucidate the relationship between the portrait set and the rest of the decorative scheme, and that among the paintings in the set, including their construction and condition. Evidence for the use of different styles of grounds, drawing and paint application suggests that the portraits were executed by different hands or workshops, while the range of materials is consistent with seventeenth-century painting practice. Technical and documentary evidence suggest that the King's Room was constructed from the portrait panels from Keevil Manor, another Tudor property, and oak panelling boards from other sources. The study places the King's Room at Westwood in the context of the early twentieth-century antiquarian trend to alter English manor houses. Special conservation issues related to the historic and current function of the King's Room are discussed, including aspects of deterioration and former treatment of the room and portrait panels.

Paul-Bernhard Eipper: Cleaning paintings made with alkyd resin colours
Explores alkyd resin paints, examining their physical and chemical properties and highlighting their distinctions from oil paints. Ways to manipulate alkyd resins using oils and additives are detailed, allowing for alterations in sheen, drying speed, and viscosity of the paint. Also shared are examples of reactions that occur when the alkyd resin is mixed with various pigments and binders, ultimately impacting the formulation of the paint. Due to similar properties and limited research, alkyd resin paints are often misattributed as oil paints and thus their cleaning processes tend to be similar.

In 2023, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent acquired a previously unknown painting by the Flemish Caravaggist Melchior de la Mars (before 1590-1650). The painting represents the release of Saint Sebastian by Irene in a Caravaggesque manner. The discovery presented an occasion to conduct a multi-analytical investigation alongside art-historical research and to gain a comprehensive understanding of the painter's palette and technique. This paper reports the findings on pigment use in relation to what is known about the influence of Caravaggio on the artist. The aim is to address the arthistorical question whether De la Mars traveled to Italy to study the art of Caravaggio. The technical investigation of the painting demonstrated the use of Naples yellow and green earth. Both pigments are uncommon for the early seventeenth-century Flemish palette and could indicate a stay in Italy. Two hypotheses are proposed and discussed about a potential Italian sojourn.

The fragility of digital data as a means of storing our images, texts and finances, is well-known to anyone who has ever experienced a failed hard drive, with vital work still to be backed up. Curators worldwide are charged with finding means of safely preserving all the born digital and digitised material in their collections. Yet the likelihood that technologies and generally accepted methods for data preservation utilised at the start of their time in post, are likely to be vastly different in every way, later in their career. We are already aware of many of the technical issues faced in longer-term digital preservation, redundant software and file formats, data storage hardware failure, bit rot literally breaking down data over time, to name but a few. However, these may be the least of the issues facing our particular digital works in any archive, supposing there is no funding for further vital migration, or the archive has newer material that is considered more important, or simply that our, yet unborn, great-great-grandchildren have very different aesthetic tastes and do not like or value our particular collection. This paper proposes an alternative approach to very long-term digital preservation where our most important and significant works of art can be safely preserved for centuries into the future, by utilising a proven technology many thousands of years old. Film digitisation. Image restoration. Long-term digital archiving. Curation and accession. Pigment ink printing.

Se presenta un caso de estudio del conjunto de pintura mural de la Sala Capitular del monasterio de Santa Maria de Sixena (Huesca), de época medieval, que fue gravemente dañado en 1936 durante los primeros días de la Guerra Civil. El monasterio fue incendiado, las pinturas se destruyeron en parte y el resto fueron arrancadas y traspasadas a un nuevo soporte.

El conjunto que se pudo salvar se encuentra desde los años 1940 en el MNAC, montado en soportes de madera que reproducen la forma de los arcos de la sala capitular original. Su estado de conservación es frágil a consecuencia delas vicisitudes a que han sido sometidas y de los materiales tradicionales que se emplearon, aunque se encuentra estable, gracias a las medidas de conservación preventiva aplicadas.

El criterio de presentación del conjunto fue respetuoso con las grandes lagunas de pérdida, limitándose a recrear un esbozo de la composición original que se pudo realizar gracias a la existencia de documentación antigua y de fotografías en blanco y negro anteriores al incendio. No obstante, una parte importante de la obra como documento artístico, - su cromatismo original-, se perdió de forma irremediable a causa de las altas temperaturas que calcinaron y transformaron químicamente la naturaleza de los pigmentos.

Para contrarrestar este aspecto y encontrar una solución museológica objetiva y acorde a los criterios actuales de conservación, a lo largo del tiempo se han ensayado diversas opciones de recreación virtual que permitan recuperar el cromatismo original de cara a una mejor comprensión de la obra por parte del público visitante del conjunto.

La ciencia del patrimonio es una disciplina que integra ciencia y arte, pues reúne las diversas aplicaciones científicas y tecnológicas enfocadas al estudio y comprensión del patrimonio cultural. Si bien el nombre de la disciplina es reciente, su práctica es mucho más antigua. En México, la disciplina cuenta con una trayectoria de por lo menos siete décadas, sin embargo, muchas veces esa trayectoria no ha sido reconocida y, por el contrario, ha sido invisibilizada, pues interactúa con dos áreas del conocimiento que han estado tradicionalmente separadas: las ciencias y las humanidades. En esta investigación, buscamos diagnosticar el estado de la ciencia del patrimonio en México, con particular enfoque en los laboratorios especializados en tecnologías de imagenología aplicadas al estudio del patrimonio cultural. Partimos del reconocimiento de su trayectoria, seguimos con la caracterización de sus actores, tanto aquellos que generan información y conocimientos en ese tema como aquellos que son sus usuarios. Continuamos con la identificación de la oferta de formativa, y, concluimos con el análisis de su problemática y la definición de propuestas para resolverla, o bien, mitigarla. Aunado al diagnóstico, en este trabajo, se presentan los antecedentes de la ciencia del patrimonio a partir del desarrollo de cuatro campos de investigación que surgen a principios del siglo XX con objetivos propios, pero con metodologías compartidas: la arqueometría, la ciencia de la conservación, la historia técnica del arte y la imagenología para el patrimonio. Asimismo, se presenta un capítulo dedicado al origen de los laboratorios mexicanos de ciencia del patrimonio, que parte de los testimonios de personas que han sido pioneras en estos campos. Este trabajo tiene la intención de aportar al saber general de la disciplina, así como dar conocer los laboratorios mexicanos de ciencia del patrimonio y el amplio trabajo que se realiza en México en ese ámbito.

Matrice colore ornato. Carte per legare e coprir libri è il titolo della mostra
che ha avuto luogo a Venezia, nelle Sale Monumentali della Biblioteca nazionale Marciana, dal 15 dicembre 2023 al 28 gennaio 2024, e che ha offerto l’opportunità di indagare il patrimonio delle carte stampate con matrici in legno risalenti al XVIII e XIX secolo conservate nei fondi marciani. Il catalogo che ora vede la luce costituisce un punto di riferimento essenziale per orientarsi in un settore artistico peculiare e ancora poco esplorato, contribuendo a delineare la storia dei produttori e della circolazione commerciale delle carte xilografate, a classificare i motivi ornamentali, a fornire strumenti descrittivi utili per le collezioni conservate in altre istituzioni e ad aprire nuove prospettive di ricerca.

Dopo il restauro della Croce di Sarzana, datata 1138, e il restauro della Croce di Rosano, databile al 1129, il testo prende in considerazione i dati tecnici emersi nel corso dei due interventi e stabilisce alcuni criteri di lettura delle tecniche della pittura medievale a paragone con la trattatistica del tempo

RF Plasma is a glow discharge typically generated through using oxygen and hydrogen as the input working gas. In the current study the radio frequency (RF) hydrogen plasma (H2) is used for removing some metallic stains (iron and copper) which affected the historical brick surfaces in Prince Yousef Kamal place. Untreated and treated surfaces were evaluated by OLS, EDX-SEM & FTIR. Investigation results show that both iron and copper aged samples had been cleaned, where the stains thicknesses' were removed perfectly through. Analytical results of the accumulated particles demonstrate that they are decreased after cleaning process. In addition, morphological investigations proved the clearness of positive effects in the reducing of the samples surfaces' darkening and thickness' accumulations in all cleaned

In Latin, "maximus" means "the greatest."  Maximus was mostly an honorific title, not a common Roman personal name, but several emperors had names containing the root *max. On coin inscriptions, which are often heavily abbreviated and may be partly illegible, this can be a source of endless confusion, especially for beginners. A survey of the coins of these similarly-named rulers gives us a glimpse into the often chaotic history of the Roman Empire in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries.

Plant-based gums and mucilages are versatile biopolymers with significant industrial, environmental, and biological applications. Derived from various plant sources such as seeds, roots, leaves, and exudates, these polysaccharides comprise proteins, bioactive substances, and neutral sugars like arabinose, galactose, and galacturonic acid. Their unique structural and functional properties, such as high viscosity, water retention, and heat stability, make them valuable in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Due to their hydrophilic nature and ability to form hydrogen bonds with water, these materials serve as emulsifiers, film-forming agents, gelling agents, and stabilizers. Recent studies have highlighted their potential in sustainable applications, including biodegradable packaging materials, whose film-forming properties are crucial. The inclusion of bioactive properties such as antibacterial, antioxidant, and immune-modulating effects has expanded their use in functional foods and nutraceuticals. Gums and mucilages also play essential roles in pharmaceuticals as tablet binders, drug carriers, and controlled-release excipients. Moreover, nanotechnology has enhanced its applications in environmental remediation and drug delivery through hydrogels and mucilage-coated nanoparticles. Despite their potential, challenges remain due to variability in extraction and processing methods. This analysis underscores the transformative potential of plant-derived gums and mucilages in promoting sustainable development, addressing key environmental challenges and integrating scientific innovations with industrial needs.

Paris, INHA, du lundi 23 au jeudi 26 juin (accès libre dans la limite des places disponibles).

De l’or chez Raphaël, Dürer, mais aussi Carrache, Vermeer et Rembrandt ? L’école d’été du programme de recherche AORUM se propose de faire découvrir la diversité des usages de l’or dans la peinture européenne, du XVe siècle à nos jours. Ce cycle de conférences et de tables-rondes permettra à divers spécialistes de présenter leurs travaux sur des enjeux propres à l’histoire de l’art et à l’histoire des techniques artistiques, mais aussi d’aborder les questions que l’emploi de l’or suscite du point de vue des conservateurs, des restaurateurs comme des spécialistes de l’éclairage et de l’optique.

Organisé en partenariat avec HAR – université Paris Nanterre et le laboratoire ETIS – CNRS / CY Cergy Paris Université dans le cadre du projet ANR-22 CE27-0010, le laboratoire HiCSA - université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, la Direction des études muséales et de l’appui à la recherche du musée du Louvre, et l’Institut national du patrimoine

Manutech-SLEIGHT Graduate School, 14th Science Event : "Metallic surfaces: texturing, functionalization, appearence", Saint-Etienne, université Jean-Monnet, 30 juin-1er juillet 2025.

Gold among the paintings of Raphael, Durer, Carracci, Vermeer and Rembrandt? Challenging an art historical tradition made “blind” to its presence, the AORUM project (Analysis of Gold and its Uses as a Pictorial Material, ANR-22-CE27-0010) sheds light on the uses of gold by European painters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. How can the interpretation of their works benefit from a better acknowledgment of this metal as a pictorial material, whose relationship to light, through its metallic gloss, distinguishes it from the usual pigments?

Firstly, this presentation will review the interdisciplinary methods developed within the AORUM project to characterize the use of gold and to analyze it from a threefold perspective (historical, technical, optical). Secondly, drawing from a selection of paintings in European public collections, it will describe some of the ways in which Renaissance painters took advantage of the optical properties associated with distinctive gilding techniques (water gilding, mordant gilding, pastiglia) in order to better enhance the meaning and/or perception of their artworks.

Table-ronde, Festival de l'histoire de l'art de Fontainebleau, 6 juin 2025
Dans cette table ronde, les intervenants appliquent la question du vrai et du faux aux usages de l’or dans la peinture européenne du XVe au XIXe siècle, en lien avec le programme de recherche AORUM. Dès la fin du Moyen Âge, des substituts à l’or ont été employés par les artistes dans leurs œuvres, parfois même en conjonction avec de l’or véritable. Grâce à l’amélioration des instrumentations dédiées au patrimoine, les analyses physico-chimiques et les analyses optiques permettent de jeter une nouvelle lumière sur ces pratiques. Au XIXe siècle, la vogue des peintures anciennes a incité nombre de faussaires et de copistes à reproduire les dorures des oeuvres de la Renaissance afin de parvenir à une imitation plus convaincante. Ces différents aspects seront abordés à travers quelques études de cas.

Paper Abstract (ENG)
It is emblematic of the sometimes-impenetrable history of Naples that one of the city’s leading painters of the seventeenth century remains nameless: this is the Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds, so-called for his portrayals of ragged, dignified shepherds painted with a thick impasto, murky earth tones, and strong contrasts of light and dark. Despite no consensus on his name, through his paintings we have a remarkably tactile and specific representation of the world he inhabited and the objects he owned: We can identify specific books and plaster casts he owned he owned, recognize musical instruments, carpets, mirrors, costumes, copper pots and pans, maiolica pitchers, pewter vessels, and other wares, as well as apprentices and a range of models. Given that nothing else is known about the artist, these mundane objects can hold an important key to understanding both his art and place in the world of Neapolitan painting more broadly.
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Abstract (ITA)
È emblematico della storia talvolta imperscrutabile di Napoli, che uno dei principali pittori della città del XVII secolo sia rimasto senza nome: si tratta del Maestro dell'Annuncio ai Pastori, noto per le sue raffigurazioni di pastori fieri nei loro cienci, dipinti con un impasto denso, torbidi colori terrosi e forti contrasti chiaroscurali. Sebbene non ci sia accordo sul suo nome, i suoi quadri ci offrono una rappresentazione straordinariamente tattile e precisa del mondo che abitava e degli oggetti che possedeva. Siamo in grado di identificare specifici libri e calchi in gesso di sua proprietà, di riconoscere strumenti musicali, tappeti, specchi, abiti, pentole di rame, brocche di maiolica, vasi di peltro e altri utensili, nonché gli apprendisti e una serie di modelli. Dato che non si conosce null'altro dell'artista, questi oggetti di uso comune possono costituire un'importante chiave di lettura per comprendere sia la sua arte che, in senso più ampio, il suo posto nel contesto della pittura napoletana.

CASTRO, Aloísio Arnaldo Nunes; AZEVEDO, Fabiano Cataldo de. Provenance in the Murilo Mendes Collection. In: Lorenzo Mammi; Maria Betânia Amoroso; Taísa Palhares. (Org.). Murilo Mendes, poet critic: the infimate infinite. São Paulo: Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, 2023, p. 35-43.

In the south-western areas of Lower Silesia variou s industries for exploitation of local natural resources developed in the nineteenth century. A characteristic feature of this region is the multiplicity of industries present in considerable dispersion in rural and urban areas, generally in the form of small factories, es pecially the textile and mining ones. An important role in the region plays the exploitation o f mineral waters, lasting hundreds of years. Many spas were created in these areas in the past, in which numerous industrial facilities were built, associated with the extraction and proc essing of mineral waters. Basing at the case of historic buildings of mineral water bottlin g plant analysis of applied structural and material solutions which combine stone, brick, rein forced concrete and timber is presented in the paper, as well as a methodology used to assess th buildings’ current technical condition. There are described planned renovation technologies and method of...

Chinese wine culture has a long history and is a unique cultural form in the five thousand years of civilization (Wen; Huang; Zhou, 2018). During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou periods, affected by ideas of aesthetics and the philosophy of governance, the art motifs of wine-drinking vessels are composed mainly of animal motifs, geometrical motifs and nature motifs. The patterns reflect our ancestors' awe of heaven and nature.

Deadline: 8. Juni 2025  //  KNOW HOW, SHOW HOW: KUNSTTECHNOLOGISCHES WISSEN IN KUNST UND KUNSTGESCHICHTE  // 

Mit der Entstehung der Restaurierungswissenschaften im 20. Jahrhundert erlangte das Wissen über die materiellen und technischen Aspekte von Kunstwerken einen neuen epistemischen Status, indem es die bis dahin vor allem empirischen Kompetenzen in den Bereich der sogenannten exakten Wissenschaften überführte. Gleichzeitig suchten auch Archäologie, Soziologie und Anthropologie sowie die traditionell ideen- und textfixierten Kunstwissenschaften neue Zugänge zum Artefakt. Mit dem Material Turn wuchs das Interesse am ‚Gemachtsein‘ von Objekten, an Verfahren und Erfahrung sowie an den Theorien von Agency und Affordancy; inzwischen hat sich international die Technical Art History etabliert. Während das Thema aus der Forschung nicht mehr wegzudenken ist, bleibt es in der Vermittlung weitgehend unsichtbar.

Die Sektion fragt nach verschiedenen Aspekten kunsttechnologischen Wissens: Wie es entsteht und weitergegeben wird (Werkstatt, Mobilität, Transfer), wie man es praktisch nutzt (Veränderungen, Pflege, Restaurierung), wo es sich manifestiert (Objekte, Texte, Erfahrungen) und wo es Berücksichtigung findet (Forschung, Lehre, Museen). Wir freuen uns besonders über Vorschläge von Kolleg:innen aus den Restaurierungswissenschaften und Museen.

Abstract: Historical Jewish Rabbinical literature indicates that, while the vegetal dyeing of wool was common practice, the dyeing of linen was not rarely practiced – if at all. The vegetal dyestuffs common in third century CE in Jewish society were Isatis tinctoria, Rubia tinctoria, Reseda luteola, and Carthamus tinctorius. We have set out to investigate what might have been the reasons for not dyeing linen. Preliminary results suggest that the resulting poor color quality of the dyed linen may well have deterred this process. Future research may also reveal that the deficient color fastness of these dyestuffs on linen was ineffective and therefore uncommon.

Lo studio analizza, attraverso l’applicazione di noti protocolli mensiocronologici, le tecniche costruttive murarie in tufo grigio, dal XIII al XVI secolo, di alcuni areali della Campania settentrionale, privilegiando la conoscenza di quelle impiegate su larga scala, per identificare gli elementi ricorrenti della produzione architettonica storicizzata, ai fini della sua conservazione e valorizzazione.

Die Geistliche Schatzkammer des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien (KHM) beherbergt drei um 1600 entstandene Reliquiare, deren Heilige als Wachsfiguren dargestellt sind. Die Figuren des Heiligen Tiburtius und des Heiligen Valerianus sind als Paar gearbeitet und werden Hans Krumper aus München zugeschrieben. Das Reliquiar der Heiligen Elisabeth stammt aus dem Umkreis Matthias Walbaums aus Augsburg. Der Beitrag stellt die Ergebnisse ihrer kunsttechnischen Untersuchung mit einem Fokus auf die Wachsbossierungen vor und vergleicht sie mit Anweisungen kunsttechnischer Traktate. Die Wachsmischungen bestehen aus Bienenwachs, Venezianer Terpentin sowie Kolophonium und wurden mit gängigen Farbmitteln gefärbt, wie GC-MS-Analysen und REM-EDX-Messungen ergeben haben. Die Wachsfiguren wurden mit Glasaugen und Echthaar ausgestattet, um Lebensnähe zu erzeugen. Der Vergleich der Erkenntnisse mit kunsttechnischen Quellen zeigt, dass viele der im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert festgehaltenen Anweisungen zur Wachsbossierung bereits um 1600 zu beobachten sind. // The Imperial Treasury of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (KHM) holds three reliquaries, dating from around 1600, each with a wax figure of a saint. Two of these reliquaries, those of St Tiburtius and St Valerianus, are designed as a pair and are attributed to Hans Krumper from Munich. The third reliquary, that of St Elisabeth, is attributed to the circle of Matthias Walbaum from Augsburg. This paper presents the results of the technical examination of the modelled wax figures, focusing on the wax mixtures, and compares them with instructions from technical art treatises. The wax mixtures consist of beeswax, pine resin and Venice turpentine and were coloured with common colourants, as shown by GC-MS and SEM-EDX analyis. The wax figures were fitted with glass eyes and real hair to create a lifelike appearance. The comparison of the findings with art-technical sources shows that many of the instructions for working with wax recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries can already be found around 1600.

The article examines the painting of Saint Jerome by Verrocchio in the Galleria Palatina, Florence, addressing its attribution, technical features and possible use. It goes into the historical, technical, and stylistic aspects
of the artwork, highlighting the recurring representation of Saint Jerome in Florentine paintings. The article also explores the paper support, its origin, and its relationship to contemporary artistic practices, and the pigments
used. The authors present hypotheses about the nature of the painting, its potential use, and its artistic quality compared to similar works. The detailed technical analysis provides insights into the creation and evolution of the artwork, challenging previous assumptions. All the technical results and the historical exams shape the denial of the idea that the artwork was originally a preparatory drawing or a model to be transferred on other supports
(frescoes or paintings) and underline the artist’s aim to produce a painting on paper since the beginning, probably on the wave of Flemish prototypes that were imported in Florence at the time.