Finanziamento di Ateneo pari a 2000 euro per l’Avvio alla Ricerca 2013 (Tipologia A)

Archeometric investigations are a valid tool to better understand Cultural Heritage value and detect forgeries. Provenance data could give a fundamental support to archaeologists and conservation scientists' researches: the comprehension of production processes, including extraction from different quarries, contribute to the definition of painting executive technique, in order to appreciate the historical and artistic value of a single artwork. Furthermore, provenance determination for those pigments detectable on the same artwork could be useful for the detection of art forgeries or for the correct attribution to a painter for which raw material are already known. Actually, provenance investigations can be carried out by isotope analysis or by LA-ICP-MS, although there is actually no possibility to distinguish cinnabar from far quarries and no evidence of a provenance data-base for red pigments used in the Roman period. The aim of the present research is to define specific and efficient experimental procedures for the same target, considering prerogatives internationally recognized for instruments involved in Cultural Heritage: easy availability, portability, micro or non-destructive features and low-prized. Finally, deterioration processes will be examined: while red ochre is commonly known as a stable pigment, cinnabar tends to darken following mechanisms not yet fully understood.