Physicochemical Analyses of Ancient and Cultural Heritage Materials: From Non-Invasive Measurements on Artworks to Semi-Automated Quantitative Phase Analysis
Pauline Martinetto
UGA / Néel Institute, CNRS-UGA Grenoble
Video: https://univ-nantes-fr.zoom.us/s/88629102497
Cultural heritage materials are increasingly the focus of interdisciplinary research programs, in which the approaches of the various disciplines involved are combined with the goal of tracing the history of works of art, from their creation and manufacture to their current state of deterioration. At the Institut Néel, we seek to develop X-ray analysis methods to reveal the traces recorded in these materials in order to identify the raw materials, their composition, and, if possible, their provenance and the technical expertise involved.
In this presentation, I will discuss the analytical approach we have recently developed, which combines non-invasive fluorescence spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements performed directly on the artworks with synchrotron diffraction mapping and tomography experiments on micro-samples. The use of these synchrotron imaging techniques results in the collection of massive amounts of data, which has led us to develop rapid, semi-automated processing methods that allow us to obtain quantitative information at every point in the image, which are particularly informative for understanding complex pictorial stratigraphies. I will illustrate our approach by presenting various examples, drawn in particular from the interdisciplinary PATRIMALP program (IDEX, UGA), and will focus specifically on the studies we have conducted on the polychromy of late-Medieval sculptures and manuscripts.
