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Non-invasive wood identification of historical musical bows.

Non-invasive wood identification of historical musical bows.

Authors :
Fioravanti, Marco
Di Giulio, Giuseppina
Signorini, Giovanni
Rognoni, Gabriele Rossi
Sodini, Nicola
Tromba, Giuliana
Zanini, Franco
Source :
IAWA Journal. 2017, Vol. 38 Issue 3, p285-296. 12p.
Publication Year :
2017

Abstract

We identified the wood of the sticks of eight bows in the historical collection of musical instruments in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. Wood identification was carried out non-invasively (i.e., without sampling wood from the original objects), because the removal of samples from fine musical instruments will affect their aesthetic integrity and/or functional quality. Identification attempts using reflected light microscopy of wood surfaces, gave only partial results due to the poor quality of the surfaces and the particular geometry of the sticks that does not have any transverse surface. Application of Synchrotron light X-ray microtomography (μCT) in phase-contrast mode to the whole sticks allowed us to obtain stacks of transverse-sectional images that, processed as virtual volumes, revealed several anatomical features. With μCT it was possible to identify three bows as Brosimum guianense (Moraceae), one bow as Caesalpinia echinata (Caesalpiniaceae), and four bows as Manilkara sp. (Sapotaceae). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
09281541
Volume :
38
Issue :
3
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
IAWA Journal
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
123871787
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1163/22941932-20170172