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Non-invasive Materials Analysis Using Portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) in the Examination of Two Mural Paintings in the Catacombs of San Giovanni, Syracuse

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Digital Heritage. Progress in Cultural Heritage: Documentation, Preservation, and Protection (EuroMed 2014)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 8740))

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Abstract

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy was performed to characterize pigment materials in a preliminary study of two mural paintings in the Catacombs of San Giovanni. XRF was one non-invasive, analytical technique employed as part of a comprehensive examination, which also included multispectral imaging and 3D modeling. XRF analysis contributed towards a better idea of the materials present, but definitive assignments for the pigments were not possible. The murals show some signs of degradation products including a calcium sulfate surface encrustation, and a bluish-black copper based pigment, which we suspect is the degradation of azurite into tenorite.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering, and the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture, and Archaeology (CISA3), The University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA, 92093-0418, USA

    Samantha Stout

  2. Independent Scholar, Cultural Heritage Science Open Source, Piazza Cantarella, 11, Aci Sant’Antonio, Italy

    Antonino Cosentino

  3. Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra, via August von Platen, 34, 96100, Siracusa, Italy

    Carmelo Scandurra

Authors
  1. Samantha Stout
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  2. Antonino Cosentino
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  3. Carmelo Scandurra
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical and Computer Engineering and Informatics, Digital Heritag Research Lab, Cyprus University of Technology, Archbishop Kyprianou 31, 3036, Limassol, Cyprus

    Marinos Ioannides

  2. Institute for Media Innovation (IMI), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

    Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann

  3. 2360 N. Vernon Street, Arlington, VA 22207, USA

    Eleanor Fink

  4. Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Jamova 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Roko Žarnić

  5. China University of Technology, 53 Sec3, Shinlong Rd., Taipei, Taiwan

    Alex-Yianing Yen

  6. Wave Engineering Laboratory, Center for Nonlinear Studies, Tallinn University of Technology, Institute of Cybernetics, Akadeemia tee 21, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Ewald Quak

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Stout, S., Cosentino, A., Scandurra, C. (2014). Non-invasive Materials Analysis Using Portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) in the Examination of Two Mural Paintings in the Catacombs of San Giovanni, Syracuse. In: Ioannides, M., Magnenat-Thalmann, N., Fink, E., Žarnić, R., Yen, AY., Quak, E. (eds) Digital Heritage. Progress in Cultural Heritage: Documentation, Preservation, and Protection. EuroMed 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8740. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13695-0_71

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13695-0_71

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-13694-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-13695-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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