Unveiling the paint stratigraphy and technique of Roman African polychrome statues

Elisabetta Neri; Matthias Alfeld; Nesrine Nasr; Laurence de Viguerie; Philippe Walter

doi:10.1007/s12520-022-01586-3

Unveiling the paint stratigraphy and technique of Roman African polychrome statues

Elisabetta Neri^*, Matthias Alfeld, Nesrine Nasr, Laurence de Viguerie, Philippe Walter

^*Corresponding author for this work

Team Matthias Alfeld

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

7 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

If ancient written sources and the visual analysis of polychromies have recently revealed the complexity of the technique of painting on statues and their frequent restoration, the non-invasive punctual chemical analyses carried out do not allow one to access the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This paper presents the analysis of three statues from Roman Africa discussing the results obtained from this understudied territory and chronology. By combining visual observation (VIS, UVL), video microscopy and MA-XRF imaging, we propose here a non-invasive protocol to determine the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This allows one to unveil the complexity of the ‘know-how’ of a sculpture painter and sheds light on the evolution of the original appearance of the statues.

Original language	English
Article number	118
Number of pages	11
Journal	Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Volume	14
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01586-3
Publication status	Published - 2022

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

Ancient restorations
Imaging technique
MA-XRF
Pigments
Polychromy
Roman sculpture

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title = "Unveiling the paint stratigraphy and technique of Roman African polychrome statues",

abstract = "If ancient written sources and the visual analysis of polychromies have recently revealed the complexity of the technique of painting on statues and their frequent restoration, the non-invasive punctual chemical analyses carried out do not allow one to access the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This paper presents the analysis of three statues from Roman Africa discussing the results obtained from this understudied territory and chronology. By combining visual observation (VIS, UVL), video microscopy and MA-XRF imaging, we propose here a non-invasive protocol to determine the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This allows one to unveil the complexity of the {\textquoteleft}know-how{\textquoteright} of a sculpture painter and sheds light on the evolution of the original appearance of the statues.",

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note = "Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.",

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AU - Neri, Elisabetta

AU - Alfeld, Matthias

AU - Nasr, Nesrine

AU - de Viguerie, Laurence

AU - Walter, Philippe

N1 - Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - If ancient written sources and the visual analysis of polychromies have recently revealed the complexity of the technique of painting on statues and their frequent restoration, the non-invasive punctual chemical analyses carried out do not allow one to access the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This paper presents the analysis of three statues from Roman Africa discussing the results obtained from this understudied territory and chronology. By combining visual observation (VIS, UVL), video microscopy and MA-XRF imaging, we propose here a non-invasive protocol to determine the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This allows one to unveil the complexity of the ‘know-how’ of a sculpture painter and sheds light on the evolution of the original appearance of the statues.

AB - If ancient written sources and the visual analysis of polychromies have recently revealed the complexity of the technique of painting on statues and their frequent restoration, the non-invasive punctual chemical analyses carried out do not allow one to access the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This paper presents the analysis of three statues from Roman Africa discussing the results obtained from this understudied territory and chronology. By combining visual observation (VIS, UVL), video microscopy and MA-XRF imaging, we propose here a non-invasive protocol to determine the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This allows one to unveil the complexity of the ‘know-how’ of a sculpture painter and sheds light on the evolution of the original appearance of the statues.

KW - Ancient restorations

KW - Imaging technique

KW - MA-XRF

KW - Pigments

KW - Polychromy

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ER -

Unveiling the paint stratigraphy and technique of Roman African polychrome statues

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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