Search

International audience; A variety of techniques were used to investigate flax yarns sampled from four selected Italian paintings on canvas dated between the 17th and 18th centuries and compare them with a modern flax yarn. The goal was to establish their state of preservation and highlight the critical issues thanks to a combined approach that used SEM, atomic force microscopy, nanoindentation, nuclear magnetic resonance, second harmonic generation imaging microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy. The condition of the flax fibres was assessed, and the results showed that two of the four canvases were in a generally good state of preservation, while the other two exhibited signs of biological attack and brittleness due to a previous relining intervention.

Mortar quality is a fundamental parameter to take into account when studying the structural behavior of masonry, especially under seis− mic actions. Separation between the leaves of rubble masonry can occur, inducing the partial or total collapse of the construction. A good quality mortar is essential to delay/prevent the separation of leaves, but often, especially in ancient building with a cultural value, mor− tars have low binder capabilities. The paper presents an experimental investigation on mortar specimens taken from buildings of a little municipality in Marche region, Arquata del Tronto, heavily damaged by recent earthquakes in Central Italy (2016−2017). Both diagnostic techniques as X−Ray diffrac− tion, Fourier−Transform infrared spectroscopy and calcimetry, and mechanical test as compression tests were carried out in order to cor− relate the obtained values with the performance of the original masonry.