Characterization of a wooden Brazilian sculpture using µXRF and µCT

Marcelo Lemos da Silva; Ivan Napoleão Bastos; Luis César Rodríguez Aliaga; Joaquim Teixeira de Assis

doi:10.14295/vetor.v34i2.18199

Authors

Marcelo Lemos da Silva Instituto Politécnico, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8666-0816
Ivan Napoleão Bastos Instituto Politécnico, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Nova Friburgo, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7611-300X
Luis César Rodríguez Aliaga Instituto Politécnico, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Nova Friburgo, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5397-674X
Joaquim Teixeira de Assis Instituto Politécnico, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Nova Friburgo, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4027-6939

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14295/vetor.v34i2.18199

Keywords:

Ancient sculpture, Painting pigments, µXRF, µCT

Abstract

The scientific characterization of historical pieces reflects the history of a people, as it brings countless information about the technology and cultural knowledge of a given civilization. These studies often involve a certain level of interdisciplinarity, as technology and history come together in the search for the characterization of a piece. In many cases it is possible to determine the period in which the artifact was created, identify the techniques used by the artist, provide data of a possible restoration process, in addition to helping to identify possible forgeries in valuable works. In this paper, two non-destructive characterization techniques were used: micro-X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) and X-ray microtomography (µCT), with the aim of characterizing a wooden Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception sculpture. µXRF measurements were carried out at 30 spots on the sculpture to identify the pigments used. It was possible to detect overlapping layers of paint, the presence of gold in some ornaments, and the use of pigments that have not been used since the 19th century, such as vermilion. The images generated by µCT were used to analyze the internal structure of the piece, its fixing points and the techniques used by the artist, in addition to enabling the observation of hollow. From the results obtained, it is concluded that two types of wood were used, the vermilion pigment applied in the mouth area is likely original, and the piece has probably undergone restoration.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

V. S. Felix, M. O. Pereira, R. P. Freitas, P. J.M. Aranha, P. C.S. Heringer, M. J. Anjos and R. T. Lopes, “Analysis of silver coins from colonial Brazil by hand held XRF and micro-XRF,” Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 166, p. 109409, 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109409

R. P. Freitas, V. S. Felix, M. O. Pereira, R. S. Santos, A. L. Oliveira, E. A.S. Gonçalves, D. S. Ferreira, A. R. Pimenta, L. O. Pereira and M. J. Anjos, “Micro-XRF analysis of a Brazilian polychrome sculpture,” Microchemical Journal, vol. 149, p. 104020, 2019. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2019.104020

F. A. C.R.A. Sanches, R. C. Nardes, R. S. Santos, H. S. G. Filho, A. S. Machado, R. G. Leitão, C. C.G. Leitão, T. E. Calgam, R. Bueno, J. T. Assis, D. F. Oliveira, R. T. Lopes and M. J. Anjos, “Characterization and wooden Pietà sculpture from the XVIII century using XRF and microCT techniques,” Radiation Physics and Chemistry, vol. 202, p. 110556, 2023. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2022.110556

A. S. Machado, D. F. Oliveira, H. S. G. Filho, R. Latini, A. V. B. Bellido, J. T. Assis, M. J. Anjos and R. T. Lopes, “Archeological ceramic artifacts characterization through computed microtomography and X‐ray fluorescence,” X-Ray Spectrometry, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 427–434, 2017. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/xrs.2786

F. A. C.R.A. Sanches, R. C. Nardes, H. S. G. Filho, R. S. dos Santos, O. M.O. de Araújo, A. S. Machado, T. Calgam, R. Bueno, C. Canellas, E. A. S. Gonçalves, J. T. Assis, R. P. de Freitas, D. F. de Oliveira, R. T. Lopes and M. J. dos Anjos, “Characterization of a sacred statuette replica of ‘Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida’ using X-ray spectrometry techniques,” Radiation Physics and Chemistry, vol. 167, p. 108266, 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2019.04.016

M. O. Pereira, V. S. Felix, A. L. Oliveira, D. S. Ferreira, A. R. Pimenta, C. S. Carvalho, F. L. Silva, C. A. Perez, D. Galante and R. P. Freitas., “Investigating counterfeiting of an artwork by XRF, SEM-EDS, FTIR and synchrotron radiation induced MA-XRF at LNLS-BRAZIL,” Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, vol. 246, p. 118925, 2021. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2020.118925

J. M. Del Hoyo-Meléndez, M. Matosz, A. Walanus, and P. Krupska-Wolas, “Advantages and limitations of archaeometric analysis of archaeological metals: A focus on statistical methods applied to portable XRF spectrometry data,” Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, vol. 51, p. 104156, 2023. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104156

A. S. Machado, A. S. S. Silva, G. N. Campos, C. S. Gomes, D. F. Oliveira, and R. T. Lopes, “Analysis of metallic archaeological artifacts by x-ray computed microtomography technique,” Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 151, pp. 274–279, 2019. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.06.016

D. Braekmans, V. Boschloos, H. Hameeuw, and A. Van Der Perre, “Tracing the provenance of unfired ancient Egyptian clay figurines from Saqqara through non-destructive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry,” Microchemical Journal, vol. 145, pp. 1207–1217, 2019. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2018.12.029

N. K. Kladouri, A. G. Karydas, V. Orfanou, V. Kantarelou, and N. Zacharias, “Bronze votive pins from the sanctuary of Athena Alea at Tegea, Arcadia, Greece, ca. 9th-7th BCE: A microscopic and compositional study using portable micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (micro-XRF),” Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, vol. 37, p. 102975, 2021. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102975

I. Caloi and F. Bernardini, “Revealing primary forming techniques in wheel-made ceramics with X-ray microCT,” Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 169, p. 106025, 2024. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2024.106025

J. Brocchieri, R. Vitale, and C. Sabbarese, “Characterization of the incuse coins of the Museo Campano in Capua (Southern Italy) by X-ray fluorescence and numismatic analysis,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, vol. 479, pp. 93–101, 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2020.06.015

A. Doménech-Carbó, M. Mödlinger, and G. Ghiara, “Determining of the composition of the metallic core of historical objects from surface XRF spectrometry data,” Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, vol. 220, p. 107030, 2024. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2024.107030

A. R. Chowdhury, N. Maheshwari, J. Soni, M. Kapil, T. Mehta, and A. Mukharya, “Quantitative X-ray fluorescence analysis: Trace level detection of toxic elemental impurities in drug product by ED-XRF spectrometer,” Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, vol. 189, p. 113292, 2020. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2020.113292

S. Porcinai, A. Cagnini, M. Galeotti, and M. Ferretti, “Quantitative analysis of copper alloys by means of portable X-ray fluorescence: A comparison between analysis of shavings and surfaces,” Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, vol. 210, p. 106808, 2023. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2023.106808

M. Crosera, E. Baracchini, E. Prenesti, A. Giacomello, B. Callegher, P. Oliveri and G. Adami, “Elemental characterization of surface and bulk of copper-based coins from the Byzantine-period by means of spectroscopic techniques,” Microchemical Journal, vol. 147, pp. 422–428, 2019. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2019.03.025

D. F. Oliveira, R. S. Santos, A. S. Machado, A. S. S. Silva, M. J. Anjos, and R. T. Lopes, “Characterization of scale deposition in oil pipelines through X-Ray microfluorescence and X-Ray microtomography,” Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 151, pp. 247–255, 2019. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.06.019

M. K. Donais and D. B. George, X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry and its applications to archaeology: An Illustrated Guide. 2018.

M. Spring and R. Grout, “The blackening of vermilion: An analytical study of the process in paintings,” National Gallery Technical Bulletin, vol. 23, pp. 50-61, 2002. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/42616159