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Featured Application: The study presented here provides a better understanding of the materials used in 20th century Italian wall paintings and is useful for the conservation and restoration projects of wall paintings from the same period. In this work, we present a diagnostic study carried out on 20th century wall paintings in the Chapel of the Fallen of the Great War in the Cathedral of Parma (Italy). The Chapel was painted in the two-year period of 1921–1922 and has been recently restored. The paintings were investigated in order to study the technique used by the painter, Biagio Biagetti (Porto Recanati, 1877–Macerata, 1948) and their state of conservation. A total of twelve micro-fragments of the painting layers were sampled and investigated using different techniques. Raman spectroscopy revealed the large amount of different pigments used for each hue, many of them being synthetic materials. SEM/EDS analysis showed that the mortar was an aerial lime obtained from calcium carbonate mixed with a small amount of clay. Organic materials were identified by FTIR spectroscopy. GC/MS investigations revealed lipid and proteinaceous materials in the examined specimens; the lipid fraction, however, is not attributable to the presence of drying oils. From the determination of the amino acid content, it became apparent that the proteinaceous fraction is due to the combination of egg and animal glue; this allowed us to infer the use of "a secco" techniques, confirming the visual impressions of the restorer. The results obtained have contributed to the definition of the conservation project in its various phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of organic solvents in treatments for the removal of varnishes on easel paintings is still a common practice among conservators worldwide. The more polar solvents required for aged, oxidized varnishes may promote leaching of fatty acid components of oil-based paints. The strategy tested in this study to reduce the diffusion of the solvents, in an attempt to minimize interactions, relied on the use of a system composed of two devices: a pump for delivering a precisely controlled amount of solvent to the surface, and a solvent-proof membrane pump to quickly aspirate it. This method was compared with two traditional methods of solvent application, to remove the varnish on two oil paintings on canvas, one from the twentieth century and the other dated 1872: swab-rolling and application through a Japanese paper sheet. The extent of leaching was measured by GC−MS analysis of the paint samples taken from the treated areas. The profiles of the fatty acids before and after varnish removal could thus be compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.01.020 Byline: David Caramelli (a), Carles Lalueza-Fox (b), Cristian Capelli (c), Martina Lari (a), Maria Lourdes Sampietro (d), Elena Gigli (a), Lucio Milani (a), Elena Pilli (a), Silvia Guimaraes (a), Brunetto Chiarelli (a), Vito Terribile Wien Marin (e), Antonella Casoli (f), Roscoe Stanyon (a), Jaume Bertranpetit (b), Guido Barbujani (g) Keywords: Ancient DNA; Petrarca body; mtDNA; Sex determination Abstract: We report on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of the supposed remains of Francesco Petrarca exhumed in November 2003, from the S. Maria Assunta church, in Arqua Padua (Italy) where he died in 1374. The optimal preservation of the remains allowed the retrieval of sufficient mtDNA for genetic analysis. DNA was extracted from a rib and a tooth and mtDNA sequences were determined in multiple clones using the strictest criteria currently available for validation of ancient DNA sequences, including independent replication. MtDNA sequences from the tooth and rib were not identical, suggesting that they belonged to different individuals. Indeed, molecular gender determination showed that the postcranial remains belonged to a male while the skull belonged to a female. Historical records indicated that the remains were violated in 1630, possibly by thieves. These results are consistent with morphological investigations and confirm the importance of integrating molecular and morphological approaches in investigating historical remains. Author Affiliation: (a) Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e Genetica, Laboratorio di Antropologia, Universita di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy (b) Seccio Antropologia, Departament de Biologia Animal, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain (c) Istituto Italiano di Antropologia, Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, Universita di Roma 'La Sapienza', Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy (d) Unitat de Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr. Aiguader 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain (e) Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Universita di Padova, via Gabelli 61, 35121 Padua, Italy (f) Dipartimento di Chimica Generale e Inorganica, Chimica Analitica, Chimica Fisica, Universita di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17/A, 43100 Parma, Italy (g) Dipartimento di Biologia, Universita di Ferrara, via Borsari 46, 44100 Ferrara, Italy Article History: Received 10 November 2006; Accepted 20 January 2007

This contribution reports the documentation of the conservation status and the pictorial technique of a wall painting and a stucco arch at Palazzo Nuzzi in Orte, central Italy (Viterbo district), achieved using a wide combination of non-invasive and micro-invasive diagnostic techniques. Specifically, a photogrammetric approach has been used for 2D and 3D ultraviolet fluorescence (UVF) acquisitions. Moreover, the conservation status of the wall painting has been also investigated by a non-invasive active infrared thermograghy technique, i.e. Pulse Compression Thermography (PuCT), used here for the first time on a wall painting to map the surface and sub-surface cracks in the first layers. Pigments, grounds and organic binders were characterised by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, micro-stratigraphic analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The results of this unique combination of advanced tools corroborated the historical-artistic attribution to the school of the architect Andrea Pozzo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]