ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more genera... more ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more generally, brick materials were adopted as artistic support for mobile paintings, curiously exploiting materials and techniques of mural painting. The small size and the low cost of these materials, jointly with easy availability as construction elements left over from building works, presumably favoured their use by artists for (self-)portraits, sacred and mythological representations. Both the application of pigments onto moist plasters following the typical procedure of fresco technique and the execution of details, even the entire depicted subject, by means of secco techniques, seem to testify a strict relationship with the coeval mural painting, as suggested by the evidence that the artists who experienced this type of mobile painting were also expert fresco painters (e.g., Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Giovanni da San Giovanni, Il Volterrano). The significant number of painted tiles preserved in the Florentine museums, dated back to the first two decades of the 16th century and mainly attributed to Bartolommeo di Paolo del Fattorino, known as Fra Bartolommeo (1472? - 1517), encouraged a specific multidisciplinary study, to figure out how such an interesting artistic production developed and if it actually constituted a workshop practice diffuse in the Renaissance Florence. To achieve this purpose, technical and scientific examination was carried out on the entire corpus of paintings on tile by Fra Bartolommeo, in the framework of co-operation with the Director and technical staff of the Museum of San Marco, Florence, where these paintings are permanently exhibited. In addition to the various style that seems to distinguish these artworks in different groups, nowadays attributed to distinct periods of the painter, the variety of the methods used to apply the plaster layers onto the brick support, the typology of the tiles and the technical features of the paint layers induce to rethink the classification of these paintings, starting from a more correct terminology for the description of the supports and a more precise identification of the manufacturing techniques. The documentary evidence about the provenance of all these tiles from the Convent of Santa Maria Maddalena in Pian di Mugnone (an hospice belonging to the Dominican Order of San Marco located just few metres from the north entrance to Florence) opened to promising results. Here a tile painted by Fra Bartolommeo, representing an Ecce Homo, is still inserted within the wall surface of a corridor at the ground floor, providing a reliable proof that the tiles were formerly wall embedded, as recorded by an archival document (1736). The results of the ongoing research on the artistic and building materials of the convent and its surroundings, undertaken in co-operation with Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, are shedding new lights on the manufacturing techniques of painting on tile in 15-16th century, whose fortune continued until the Baroque period, as it was appreciated by the Medici family itself to create architectural decorations.
The scientific research project HYPOGEA started in 2012 by the Pontifical Commission for Sacred A... more The scientific research project HYPOGEA started in 2012 by the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology (PCAS), Vatican, and ICVBC-CNR, Florence, aims to understand the processes of calcium carbonate crystallisations that commonly cover the painted and rock naked surfaces in Roman catacombs, and assess the influence exerted by the environmental conditions and their trend changes. Microclimate monitoring of the Cubicle of the Twelve Apostles in the catacombs of Saints Mark, Marcellian and Damasus by means of a sensor network is coupled with periodic surface pattern change detection. The latter is carried out by combining non-invasive techniques (e.g., colorimetric measurements and digital micro-photogrammetry) and laboratory investigations (e.g., thin and cross-section, FT-IR, XRD and ESEM analyses) on samples taken from both ancient surfaces and newly applied frescoes. The first outcomes are providing interesting insights into the operational issues involved in the monitoring of...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 15583058 2012 703758, Jan 16, 2014
ABSTRACT The San Leonardo pulpit in Arcetri (12 century) is an unicum in Florence. The first docu... more ABSTRACT The San Leonardo pulpit in Arcetri (12 century) is an unicum in Florence. The first documents place it in the Church of San Pier Scheraggio, from where in 1782 it was moved to the church of San Leonardo in Arcetri. Inside the church the pulpit was again dismantled and reassembled in 1921 by Opificio delle Pietre Dure, with the addition of new parts. In this work, different restoration mortars have been characterized mineralogically by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), chemically both by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDS) and petrographically by optical microscope observation in transmitted light (OM). Compositional data allow to identify mortars related to different interventions occurred in the past. Scientific results together with information obtained from historical sources, have been used in order to decide the selective removal of the materials which could give rise to further decay. Therefore mortars suitable for restoration were also developed by specific tests, in order to obtain materials compatible with the substrate by chemical, physical and aesthetical point of view.
ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more genera... more ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more generally, brick materials were adopted as artistic support for mobile paintings, curiously exploiting materials and techniques of mural painting. The small size and the low cost of these materials, jointly with easy availability as construction elements left over from building works, presumably favoured their use by artists for (self-)portraits, sacred and mythological representations. Both the application of pigments onto moist plasters following the typical procedure of fresco technique and the execution of details, even the entire depicted subject, by means of secco techniques, seem to testify a strict relationship with the coeval mural painting, as suggested by the evidence that the artists who experienced this type of mobile painting were also expert fresco painters (e.g., Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Giovanni da San Giovanni, Il Volterrano). The significant number of painted tiles preserved in the Florentine museums, dated back to the first two decades of the 16th century and mainly attributed to Bartolommeo di Paolo del Fattorino, known as Fra Bartolommeo (1472? - 1517), encouraged a specific multidisciplinary study, to figure out how such an interesting artistic production developed and if it actually constituted a workshop practice diffuse in the Renaissance Florence. To achieve this purpose, technical and scientific examination was carried out on the entire corpus of paintings on tile by Fra Bartolommeo, in the framework of co-operation with the Director and technical staff of the Museum of San Marco, Florence, where these paintings are permanently exhibited. In addition to the various style that seems to distinguish these artworks in different groups, nowadays attributed to distinct periods of the painter, the variety of the methods used to apply the plaster layers onto the brick support, the typology of the tiles and the technical features of the paint layers induce to rethink the classification of these paintings, starting from a more correct terminology for the description of the supports and a more precise identification of the manufacturing techniques. The documentary evidence about the provenance of all these tiles from the Convent of Santa Maria Maddalena in Pian di Mugnone (an hospice belonging to the Dominican Order of San Marco located just few metres from the north entrance to Florence) opened to promising results. Here a tile painted by Fra Bartolommeo, representing an Ecce Homo, is still inserted within the wall surface of a corridor at the ground floor, providing a reliable proof that the tiles were formerly wall embedded, as recorded by an archival document (1736). The results of the ongoing research on the artistic and building materials of the convent and its surroundings, undertaken in co-operation with Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, are shedding new lights on the manufacturing techniques of painting on tile in 15-16th century, whose fortune continued until the Baroque period, as it was appreciated by the Medici family itself to create architectural decorations.
Per. Mineral. (2005), 74,1,117-140 http://go.to/permin I ] PERIODICO di MINERALOGIA established i... more Per. Mineral. (2005), 74,1,117-140 http://go.to/permin I ] PERIODICO di MINERALOGIA established in 1930 An International Journal of MINERALOGY, CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, GEOCHEMISTRY, ORE DEPOSITS, PETROLOGY, VOLCANOLOGY and applied topics ...
The floor of Florence Cathedral, result of contribution of numerous craftsmen, shows excellent de... more The floor of Florence Cathedral, result of contribution of numerous craftsmen, shows excellent decorative pattern realized through "white and stained marbles" of different provenance. The relief project, obtained by digital correction of images acquired with high resolution, allows the cataloguing of used lapideous stones and the quantification of their areal extension. The recognition of material is based on macroscopic observation and for each element a data sheet containing dimensional, classificative and conservation state's informations is produced. For the study of the state a conservation, methods able to evaluate altimetric variations will be used. Scanner system and ortophoto are very useful for the study of planarity defects and erosion state. These methods allow to know the general state of conservation of the whole floor and, in particularly, to define the lithotypes that will need major attention, above all regarding the erosion phenomena, determined by the presence of a huge number of visitors. These information can be useful for the planning of the conservation intervention and for the a sustainable use of the Cathedral.
ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more genera... more ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more generally, brick materials were adopted as artistic support for mobile paintings, curiously exploiting materials and techniques of mural painting. The small size and the low cost of these materials, jointly with easy availability as construction elements left over from building works, presumably favoured their use by artists for (self-)portraits, sacred and mythological representations. Both the application of pigments onto moist plasters following the typical procedure of fresco technique and the execution of details, even the entire depicted subject, by means of secco techniques, seem to testify a strict relationship with the coeval mural painting, as suggested by the evidence that the artists who experienced this type of mobile painting were also expert fresco painters (e.g., Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Giovanni da San Giovanni, Il Volterrano). The significant number of painted tiles preserved in the Florentine museums, dated back to the first two decades of the 16th century and mainly attributed to Bartolommeo di Paolo del Fattorino, known as Fra Bartolommeo (1472? - 1517), encouraged a specific multidisciplinary study, to figure out how such an interesting artistic production developed and if it actually constituted a workshop practice diffuse in the Renaissance Florence. To achieve this purpose, technical and scientific examination was carried out on the entire corpus of paintings on tile by Fra Bartolommeo, in the framework of co-operation with the Director and technical staff of the Museum of San Marco, Florence, where these paintings are permanently exhibited. In addition to the various style that seems to distinguish these artworks in different groups, nowadays attributed to distinct periods of the painter, the variety of the methods used to apply the plaster layers onto the brick support, the typology of the tiles and the technical features of the paint layers induce to rethink the classification of these paintings, starting from a more correct terminology for the description of the supports and a more precise identification of the manufacturing techniques. The documentary evidence about the provenance of all these tiles from the Convent of Santa Maria Maddalena in Pian di Mugnone (an hospice belonging to the Dominican Order of San Marco located just few metres from the north entrance to Florence) opened to promising results. Here a tile painted by Fra Bartolommeo, representing an Ecce Homo, is still inserted within the wall surface of a corridor at the ground floor, providing a reliable proof that the tiles were formerly wall embedded, as recorded by an archival document (1736). The results of the ongoing research on the artistic and building materials of the convent and its surroundings, undertaken in co-operation with Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, are shedding new lights on the manufacturing techniques of painting on tile in 15-16th century, whose fortune continued until the Baroque period, as it was appreciated by the Medici family itself to create architectural decorations.
The scientific research project HYPOGEA started in 2012 by the Pontifical Commission for Sacred A... more The scientific research project HYPOGEA started in 2012 by the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology (PCAS), Vatican, and ICVBC-CNR, Florence, aims to understand the processes of calcium carbonate crystallisations that commonly cover the painted and rock naked surfaces in Roman catacombs, and assess the influence exerted by the environmental conditions and their trend changes. Microclimate monitoring of the Cubicle of the Twelve Apostles in the catacombs of Saints Mark, Marcellian and Damasus by means of a sensor network is coupled with periodic surface pattern change detection. The latter is carried out by combining non-invasive techniques (e.g., colorimetric measurements and digital micro-photogrammetry) and laboratory investigations (e.g., thin and cross-section, FT-IR, XRD and ESEM analyses) on samples taken from both ancient surfaces and newly applied frescoes. The first outcomes are providing interesting insights into the operational issues involved in the monitoring of...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 15583058 2012 703758, Jan 16, 2014
ABSTRACT The San Leonardo pulpit in Arcetri (12 century) is an unicum in Florence. The first docu... more ABSTRACT The San Leonardo pulpit in Arcetri (12 century) is an unicum in Florence. The first documents place it in the Church of San Pier Scheraggio, from where in 1782 it was moved to the church of San Leonardo in Arcetri. Inside the church the pulpit was again dismantled and reassembled in 1921 by Opificio delle Pietre Dure, with the addition of new parts. In this work, different restoration mortars have been characterized mineralogically by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), chemically both by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDS) and petrographically by optical microscope observation in transmitted light (OM). Compositional data allow to identify mortars related to different interventions occurred in the past. Scientific results together with information obtained from historical sources, have been used in order to decide the selective removal of the materials which could give rise to further decay. Therefore mortars suitable for restoration were also developed by specific tests, in order to obtain materials compatible with the substrate by chemical, physical and aesthetical point of view.
ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more genera... more ABSTRACT Since the fifteenth century, in the Italian art, roof tiles, terracotta and, more generally, brick materials were adopted as artistic support for mobile paintings, curiously exploiting materials and techniques of mural painting. The small size and the low cost of these materials, jointly with easy availability as construction elements left over from building works, presumably favoured their use by artists for (self-)portraits, sacred and mythological representations. Both the application of pigments onto moist plasters following the typical procedure of fresco technique and the execution of details, even the entire depicted subject, by means of secco techniques, seem to testify a strict relationship with the coeval mural painting, as suggested by the evidence that the artists who experienced this type of mobile painting were also expert fresco painters (e.g., Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Giovanni da San Giovanni, Il Volterrano). The significant number of painted tiles preserved in the Florentine museums, dated back to the first two decades of the 16th century and mainly attributed to Bartolommeo di Paolo del Fattorino, known as Fra Bartolommeo (1472? - 1517), encouraged a specific multidisciplinary study, to figure out how such an interesting artistic production developed and if it actually constituted a workshop practice diffuse in the Renaissance Florence. To achieve this purpose, technical and scientific examination was carried out on the entire corpus of paintings on tile by Fra Bartolommeo, in the framework of co-operation with the Director and technical staff of the Museum of San Marco, Florence, where these paintings are permanently exhibited. In addition to the various style that seems to distinguish these artworks in different groups, nowadays attributed to distinct periods of the painter, the variety of the methods used to apply the plaster layers onto the brick support, the typology of the tiles and the technical features of the paint layers induce to rethink the classification of these paintings, starting from a more correct terminology for the description of the supports and a more precise identification of the manufacturing techniques. The documentary evidence about the provenance of all these tiles from the Convent of Santa Maria Maddalena in Pian di Mugnone (an hospice belonging to the Dominican Order of San Marco located just few metres from the north entrance to Florence) opened to promising results. Here a tile painted by Fra Bartolommeo, representing an Ecce Homo, is still inserted within the wall surface of a corridor at the ground floor, providing a reliable proof that the tiles were formerly wall embedded, as recorded by an archival document (1736). The results of the ongoing research on the artistic and building materials of the convent and its surroundings, undertaken in co-operation with Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, are shedding new lights on the manufacturing techniques of painting on tile in 15-16th century, whose fortune continued until the Baroque period, as it was appreciated by the Medici family itself to create architectural decorations.
Per. Mineral. (2005), 74,1,117-140 http://go.to/permin I ] PERIODICO di MINERALOGIA established i... more Per. Mineral. (2005), 74,1,117-140 http://go.to/permin I ] PERIODICO di MINERALOGIA established in 1930 An International Journal of MINERALOGY, CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, GEOCHEMISTRY, ORE DEPOSITS, PETROLOGY, VOLCANOLOGY and applied topics ...
The floor of Florence Cathedral, result of contribution of numerous craftsmen, shows excellent de... more The floor of Florence Cathedral, result of contribution of numerous craftsmen, shows excellent decorative pattern realized through "white and stained marbles" of different provenance. The relief project, obtained by digital correction of images acquired with high resolution, allows the cataloguing of used lapideous stones and the quantification of their areal extension. The recognition of material is based on macroscopic observation and for each element a data sheet containing dimensional, classificative and conservation state's informations is produced. For the study of the state a conservation, methods able to evaluate altimetric variations will be used. Scanner system and ortophoto are very useful for the study of planarity defects and erosion state. These methods allow to know the general state of conservation of the whole floor and, in particularly, to define the lithotypes that will need major attention, above all regarding the erosion phenomena, determined by the presence of a huge number of visitors. These information can be useful for the planning of the conservation intervention and for the a sustainable use of the Cathedral.
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