Non-invasive contactless analysis of an early drawing by Raffaello Sanzio by means of optical methods
Year: 2022
Authors: Quintero Balbas D.; Dal Fovo A.; Montalbano L.; Fontana R.; Striova J.
Autors Affiliation: CNR, Natl Inst Opt CNR INO, Lgo E Fermi 6, I-50125 Florence, Italy; Opificio Pietre Dure MiC, Lab Restauro Cartacei & Membranacei, Viale F Strozzi 1, I-50129 Florence, Italy.
Abstract: Studying highly valuable and fragile Renaissance drawings requires a non-invasive contactless analytical approach. In this work, we study an early drawing by Raffaello Sanzio, one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance, realized during his stay in Florence (1504-1508). Our analyses aimed to reveal the features of the paper support significant for its dating, identify and map the drawing media to understand the artist?s technical approach, and document the drawing condition with imaging and single-sited optical methods. Reflectance Vis-NIR multispectral imaging spectroscopy elaborated with False-Colour and Principal Component Analysis provided information about the paper support and the drawing media. Laser scanning micro-profilometry and Optical Coherence Tomography allowed revealing the superficial micro-scale features of the support. The chemical composition of the different drawing materials was characterized by ?-Raman spectroscopy, which provided also some evidence of the conservation history of the drawing. Integration of spectroscopic and imaging data shows that Raffaello used different dry drawing media (carbon-based and Pb stylus) to sketch the figure and then refined the details and shadows with iron-gall ink. The paper presents a methodological approach for the analytical examination of fragile paper artworks.
Journal/Review: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume: 12 (1) Pages from: 15602-1 to: 15602-10
KeyWords: IRON-GALL INKS; SILVERPOINT DRAWINGS; RAMAN; IDENTIFICATION; CONSERVATION; SPECTROSCOPY; PIXE; SPECTROMETRY; CHALK; FTIRDOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18600-2ImpactFactor: 4.600Citations: 4data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2024-09-15References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)
