Il restauro di un dipinto a olio su tela di ambito cortonesco. l'impiego della nanocellulosa cristallina per il consolidamento dei supporti cellulosici depolimerizzati

CONSERVATION TREATMENT OF A 17-CENTURY OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS: THE USE OF NANOCRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE FOR THE CONSOLIDATION OF DEPOLYMERIZED CELLULOSIC TEXTILES. The 17th-century oil painting on canvas depicting the Martyrdom of a Saint, from San Salvi’s in Florence, represented a valuable case study to design a sustainable conservation project, aiming to maintain all the peculiar values of the artwork as unaltered as possible. The intervention was a chance to perform the temporary sealing of the canvas, in order to preserve it from unwanted impregnation with the adhesive used to reattach the paint layers. Furthermore, research on the potentiality of nanocrystalline cellulose (CNC) to consolidate depolymerized cellulosic textiles was carried out. The material proved to be effective in improving the tensile strength of the canvas without changing its natural hygroscopicity. The results of the research are presented very briefly, in order to describe more carefully the operative aspects of the intervention. The recovery of the appropriate mechanical resistance of the canvas allowed to avoid the lining of the support. The study on CNC as a consolidant for cellulosic canvas is part of a wider field of research related to nanostructured products and development of eco-friendly materials and methods for the conservation of cultural heritage.