THE SAN VITO WOODEN PULPIT FROM MUSEO DIOCESANO OF PALERMO, ITALY: MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH AND ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR DATING AND RESTORATION

The aim of the present research is to investigate the constitutive materials and the execution techniques of San Vito wooden pulpit from Museo Diocesano of Palermo (Italy) and to provide helpful information to dating it in addition to technical, historical and artistic evaluations. The pulpit, attributed to unknown artist, belongs to the decorative arts and the most relevant feature is its double dating, in addition to the singular painting technique: it has a linear structure typical of XIXth century and three polychrome and gilded panels probably dated to the end of XVIIth century. This paper describes the application of analytical techniques (imaging diagnostics techniques, Scanning Elec…

Scientific studies for the restoration of “Madonna con Bambino e San Giovanni”, a venetian school panel painting of the end of sixteenth century of Museo Diocesano of Palermo.

Polychrome wood sculpture depicting The Madonna del Soccorso or della Mazza from the Archdiocese of Palermo: an integrated analytical approach for the restoration

In this study the Madonna del Soccorsoo della Mazza wooden sculpture has been analysed by an interdisciplinary and integrated approach. The polychrome sculpture, dating back to the 18thcentury, comes from the church of the Madonna del Soccorso or della Mazza (1604) situated in Via Maqueda, in Palermo and it was placed on the main recess of the altar. All steps of the conservation project, from the preliminary study to the choice of materials and the restoration procedures have been accompanied and supported by diagnostic and scientific analysis. In order to evaluate the state of conservation of the sculpture and the technique employed to construct the support, computer tomography study was …

NEW APPLICATIONS IN THE USE OF CELLULOSE PULP FOR THE INTEGRATION OF WOODEN SUPPORTS

Cellulose pulp, mainly utilized as a support for cleaning stone material, in this study, is proposed as a filler for wooden supports. In the last 10 years, pulp has been used in many restoration works carried out in the laboratory of the Diocesan Museum (MDP) in Palermo, including both wooden sculptures and panel paintings. These artworks, exhibited in the MDP, are constantly monitored in order to evaluate the effectiveness of cellulose pulp as a filler, assessing its durability and bio-receptivity. In particular, structural characteristics, drying time, shrinkage, loss in weight, affinity to the pigments, etc., were simultaneously evaluated. Tests were also carried out on artificially aged…

Studio tecnico dei materiali costitutivi e delle tecniche esecutive delle cornici lignee in Sicilia

Microscopic approach to investigate constitutive materials and technique of San Vito wooden pulpit of Museo Diocesano of Palermo

The aim of this research was to assess the techniques used to create and decorate the wooden pulpit of San Vito and to verify the state of preservation of the finishing materials of the artwork.

Indagini preliminari ToF-SIMS su manufatti lignei provenienti dal museo diocesano di Palermo

The Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is a methodology only recently applied to the study of the artworks. This tecnique allow the acquisition of a high amount of morphological and chemical information, directly related to the surface properties of the investigated sample. Through this technique it is possible to carry out an elemental analysis of the material as well as a determination of molecular ions (organic and/or inorganic) with a molecular weight ≤ 5000 Dalton (atomic mass unit). Moreover it is possible to use this spectrometry in an Imaging mode, that supplies a spatial distribution of the present substances, by the generation of "a chemical image", with a v…

CONSERVATIVE RESTORATION OF TWO WOODEN ARM RELIQUARIES (18TH CENTURY) FROM PALERMO’S CATHEDRAL

The scientific investigations preliminary to the restoration of two golden wooden reliquaries, from Palermo's Cathedral, are reported in this work.

Scientific studies for the restauration of two wooden arm reliquaries from the Cathedral of Palermo

Dedicated to Saint Generosi and Saint Rosana, the reliquary arms, recalling the shape of a body part, are today located in the Relics Chapel in Palermo Cathedral. They are probably dated to the second half of the 18th century and are attributed to an unknown artist. The aims of this study were to investigate the decorative techniques, verify the state of conservation of the constitutive materials, measure the microclimate condition in the Relics Chapel, in order to set up a correct preventive conservation strategy. In this regard, an integrated scientific investigation was performed focusing on environmental monitoring (thermo-hygrometric parameters) by HOBO system, characterization of mate…

Diagnostic analyses of the wooden statue of Madonna di Monserrato

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE CONSERVATION OF A WOODEN SCULPTURE REPRESENTING ST. VINCENT DE PAUL (18TH) IN THE DIOCESAN MUSEUM OF PALERMO

Indagini diagnostiche della statua lignea della Madonna di Monserrato

The restoration of the wooden statue of Madonna of Montserrat at the Diocesan Museum of Palermo was preceded by a series of chemical-physical and biological investigations which have allowed a better knowledge of the work. In particular the following analyses have been performed on fragment of original material, sampled near the gaps of the wooden statue,: • observations of cross sections to the reflected light Optical Microscope (OM) to identify the stratigraphy and the pictorial materials; • SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) observations on cross sections and analysis in microprobe with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) for structural and chemical analysis of the single pictorial laye…

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES FOR THE RESTORATION OF A WOOD PAINTING OF THE GALLERIA INTERDISCIPLINARE REGIONALE DELLA SICILIA - PALAZZO MIRTO DI PALERMO

The Ritratto muliebre, referring to Venus, is a panel painting, oil on wood, attributed to unknown artist and probably dated to the second half of 16th century, today conserved in the Galleria Interdisciplinare Regionale della Sicilia—Palazzo Mirto of Palermo. The aim of this research was to assess the techniques used to decorate the wooden painting and to verify the state of conservation of the artwork's materials but also to identify the previous treatments. This study was the essential condition to plane and perform the correct restoration. For this reason, an integrated analytical approach based on the use of non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques was used, with the aim to obtain a …