The bronze funeral monument for Pope Sixtus IV (1471-84) by Antonio del Pollaiolo, now in the Museum of the Vatican Basilica was designed to be located at the center of a chapel, which explains its’ apparent asymmetry: lack of height and large base. The complex composition of this masterpiece of bronze sculpture, places the Pope at the center of an inner ring with the personification of the virtues and an outer one with ten allegories of Art and Science. The restoration of the funeral monument started in May 2007 and has to be concluded in December 2008. The restoration was carried out by first making a series of non invasive readings using a transportable EDXRF and a portable Raman system, then mapping the deterioration processes that had altered the bronze surface. As a consequence of the first non invasive diagnostic campaign, a second campaign of micro invasive tests was planned and carried out. The samples were analyzed with SEM-EDS, NMR and XRD techniques. In this article some of the results of the tests will be shown together with the protocol of the procedures implemented to maximize the diagnostic information gathered and minimize the micro-sampling on works of art. In recent years it has become a common practice to use the event of the restoration of a masterpiece to unite the diagnostic process and the archaeometric study.

Restoration of the Funeral Monument of Pope Sixtus IV By Antonio Pollaiolo (1493) in the Vatican Basilica / Gigante, Giovanni Ettore; Artioli, D; Ferro, D; Gabrielli, N; Guida, G; Guido, S; Guiso, M; Mantella, G; Ridolfi, S.. - ELETTRONICO. - (2009), pp. 1-10. (Intervento presentato al convegno 9th International Conference on NDT of Art tenutosi a Jerusalem Israel, nel 25-30 May 2008).

Restoration of the Funeral Monument of Pope Sixtus IV By Antonio Pollaiolo (1493) in the Vatican Basilica

GIGANTE, Giovanni Ettore;
2009

Abstract

The bronze funeral monument for Pope Sixtus IV (1471-84) by Antonio del Pollaiolo, now in the Museum of the Vatican Basilica was designed to be located at the center of a chapel, which explains its’ apparent asymmetry: lack of height and large base. The complex composition of this masterpiece of bronze sculpture, places the Pope at the center of an inner ring with the personification of the virtues and an outer one with ten allegories of Art and Science. The restoration of the funeral monument started in May 2007 and has to be concluded in December 2008. The restoration was carried out by first making a series of non invasive readings using a transportable EDXRF and a portable Raman system, then mapping the deterioration processes that had altered the bronze surface. As a consequence of the first non invasive diagnostic campaign, a second campaign of micro invasive tests was planned and carried out. The samples were analyzed with SEM-EDS, NMR and XRD techniques. In this article some of the results of the tests will be shown together with the protocol of the procedures implemented to maximize the diagnostic information gathered and minimize the micro-sampling on works of art. In recent years it has become a common practice to use the event of the restoration of a masterpiece to unite the diagnostic process and the archaeometric study.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/188813
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