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We report the development of an indirect ELISA procedure for specific identification of chicken-egg yolk and animal glues in painting micro-samples. The results presented integrate previously published work on ELISA recognition of bovine β-casein and chicken ovalbumin in painting materials. The integrated final ELISA procedure—optimised for protein extraction, immuno-reagent concentrations, blocking solution, incubation time, and temperature—enables multiplex identification, in single samples, of proteinaceous materials, i.e. chicken-egg yolk and albumen, animal glues, and bovine milk and/or casein, mainly used by painters in the past. The procedure has been systematically tested on laboratory models of mural and easel paintings, both naturally and artificially aged, to assess possible inhibitory effects on the immuno-reaction caused by inorganic painting materials (pigments and substrates) and by protein degradation resulting from aging processes. Real samples from case studies, which had previously been investigated and characterised by spectroscopy and chromatography, were successfully studied by use of the developed ELISA procedure. The commercial availability of all the immuno-reagents used, the affordable analytical equipment, and the specificity, sensitivity, and rapidity of ELISA make this method very attractive to diagnostic laboratories in the field of cultural heritage science. Possible further developments to the analytical potential of this technique include improvement of antibody performance and inclusion of other classes of bio-molecules as analytical targets. Figure An ELISA indirect procedure is reported for the specific identification of chicken egg-yolk and animal glues in micro-samples from historical paintings; the method was experimented on laboratory models of mural and easel paintings, both naturally and artificially aged

In the present study, the analytical strengths and limitations of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to non-invasively characterize organic components in painting materials have been investigated. In spite of the increased amount of information available today from advanced modern analytical instrumentations dedicated to cultural heritage, the non-invasive identification of materials belonging to the wide class of organic compounds historically used in paintings is still a challenging task. Near-infrared spectroscopy offers several attractive features that make this technique particularly suitable to this purpose. In fact, it is non-invasive, allows for non-contact measurements in reflectance mode, gives molecular information on complex macromolecules, and can be performed on-site by means of portable devices. First-derivative transformation of reflectance spectroscopic data has been applied to provide a simple and fast way to deduce more information from NIR spectra. This approach has allowed spectral features to be identified that can be useful to distinguish different compounds belonging to the classes of lipids, proteins, and resins. To this purpose, at first, a spectral database of pure standard has been collected. Our analytical approach was then successfully validated on pictorial models reproducing the typical stratigraphy of an easel painting. As final step, the study of a real painting has been attempted and a drying oil, animal glue, and a terpenic natural resin, as well as an earth pigment were clearly identified, as cross-validated by GC-MS analysis.

The development of black inks has enabled writing to become an established method of communication in history. Although a large research effort has been devoted to the study of pigments and dyes used in ancient Egypt to decorate burial walls and furnishings, or to write on papyrus, to date little attention has been paid to the nature and technology of inks used on ritual and daily-use textiles, which may have fostered the transfer of metallic ink technology onto papyrus and parchment supports. We report about inks from 15 th century BCE Egyptian textiles by combining non-invasive techniques, including ultraviolet (UV) reflected imaging, near-infrared reflectography (NIRR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and prompt-gamma-activation-analysis (PGAA). It is argued that the inks are related to the family of iron gall inks, whose introduction is commonly attributed to the third century BCE. This interpretation frames the technology of writing on fabrics, used by the ancient Egyptians, in a different time, thus providing new information on the genesis of mordant inks in the ancient Mediterranean cultures. We anticipate our study to be a starting point for further and more sophisticated investigations of textiles, which will clarify the origin of metallic ink in the ancient world.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

A non-invasive study has been carried out on 18 paintings by Alberto Burri (1915–1995), one of Italy’s most important contemporary painters. The study aims to demonstrate the appropriate and suitable use of portable non-invasive instrumentation for the characterization of materials and techniques found in works dating from 1948 to 1975 belonging to the Albizzini Collection. Sampling of any kind has been forbidden, in order to maintain the integrity of the paintings. Furthermore, the material heterogeneity of each single artwork could potentially result in a poorly representative sampling campaign. Therefore, a non-invasive and in situ analytical approach has been deemed mandatory, notwithstanding the complexity of modern materials and challenging data interpretation. It is the non-invasive nature of the study that has allowed for the acquisition of vast spectral data (a total of about 650 spectra including XRF, mid and near FTIR, micro-Raman and UV–vis absorption and emission spectroscopies). In order to better handle and to extrapolate the most meaningful information from these data, a statistical multivariate analysis, namely principal component analysis (PCA), has been applied to the spectral results. In particular, the possibility of combining elemental and molecular information has been explored by uniting XRF and infrared spectra in one PCA dataset. The combination of complementary spectroscopic techniques has allowed for the characterization of both inorganic and organic pigments, extenders, fillers, and binders employed by Alberto Burri.

Immunofluorescence microscopy offers a highly specific analytical tool for unambiguous recognition and mapping of proteins in complex matrices. In the present work, the analytical potentials of immunofluorescence microscopy have been exploited to provide recognition of proteinaceous binders in painting cross-sections. An optimised analytical protocol is proposed for the identification of ovalbumin and of bovine serum albumin as markers of egg white and casein, respectively. The study has been carried out on laboratory model samples simulating both easel and mural paintings. The obtained results demonstrated the effectiveness of the method, suggesting the potential future use of immunofluorescence microscopy as a routine diagnostic tool in conservation science. Possible developments of the proposed methodology in order to improve the specificity of the method and its detection sensitivity are presented and discussed. [graphic removed]

The St. Euthymius wall paintings, in the Cathedral of Thessaloniki, dated 1303 AD., are stylistically attributed to the School of Panselinos, one of the most important painters of Palaeologean Art. An in situ non-invasive study has been carried out as part of a MOLAB project (a mobile laboratory accessible through the Eu-ARTECH project, funded by the EC 6th FP) combining different analytical techniques such as XRF, mid-FTIR and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. It was during this comprehensive in situ study that certain scientific queries were raised about sensitive areas, where indications of the phenomena of decay requested further attention. A subsequent laboratory study of selected cross-sections using microscopic analysis with μFTIR, SEM-EDS and μRaman, further confirmed the identification of only the atypical in situ observations. The comparative interpretation of all respective results on the specific regions of interest permitted the identification of several degradation phenomena which justify certain aesthetic or stylistic incoherences in the representations. Namely, (i) thermal dehydration of the yellow ochre explaining the reddish appearance of the flesh tones and halos as an accidental effect of the fire; (ii) thermal degradation of azurite converted to tenorite explaining the atypical instance of dark lightings on the purple garments; (iii) degradation of red lead employed in the lightings of the red garments; (iv) widespread presence of oxalates in the paint surface.

Investigations of the darkening phenomenon of copper resinate observed in a XV century easel painting were carried out by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the GILDA beamline of the European synchrotron radiation facility (ESRF, Grenoble, France). X-ray absorption near edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements were collected at the Cu K-edge on an original painting sample, as well as on fresh pigment standards and on painting models. The study was aimed at providing structural information of the oxidation states and the local chemical environment (neighbouring atoms and bond distances) of copper in the unaltered and blackened pigments in order to elucidate the discoloration mechanism. Complementary information on optical and molecular properties of copper resinate were obtained by UV-vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. EXAFS analysis evidenced that the local chemical environment of Cu in copper resinate can be described using neutral copper acetate as a model. It consists, essentially, of bimetal Cu 2+ carboxylate complexes with a distorted octahedral coordination. Such a structure is retained in the blackened pigment, although some differences were observed. It has been found that the alteration takes place without change of the valence state of Cu(II) ions, while the formation of the copper oxides CuO and Cu 2 O responsible for the embrownment is excluded. On the basis of the XAS results we deduced that discoloration of copper resinate may be related to local modification of the copper coordination structure as evidenced by the observation of an increase of the Cu–Cu and Cu–C distances in the EXAFS spectra.

It has recently been shown that lustre decoration of medieval and Renaissance pottery consists of silver and copper nanoparticles dispersed in the glassy matrix of the ceramic glaze. Here the findings of an X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) study on lustred glazes of shards belonging to 10th and 13rd century pottery from the National Museum of Iran are reported. Absorption spectra in the visible range have been also measured in order to investigate the relations between colour and glaze composition. Gold colour is mainly due to Ag nanoparticles, though Ag+, Cu+ and Cu2+ ions can be also dispersed within the glassy matrix, with different ratios. Red colour is mainly due to Cu nanoparticles, although some Ag nanoparticles, Ag+ and Cu+ ions can be present. The achievement of metallic Cu and the absence of Cu2+ indicate a higher reduction of copper in red lustre. These findings are in substantial agreement with previous results on Italian Renaissance pottery. In spite of the large heterogeneity of cases, the presence of copper and silver ions in the glaze confirms that lustre formation is mediated by a copper- and silver-alkali ion exchange, followed by nucleation and growth of metal nanoparticles.

Neutron diffraction has been utilised as a non-invasive diagnostic tool to gain insight into the ancient metallurgic and manufacturing techniques employed for the production of three bronze age axes from archaic to late bronze age (20th to 13th Century BC). The analysed bronze artefacts are from the “Terramare” and other bronze age settlements near Modena, Italy. Neutron diffraction provides the alloy and phase compositions in a totally non destructive approach, without interference from surface alteration and corrosion layers. Furthermore, neutron based texture analysis, with the advantage of large grain statistics deep into the bulk, provides details of the production techniques that can complement traditional metallographic examinations, and may provide unique information for samples that cannot suffer invasive treatments.