Table of Contents

Science and Art - My Two Passions; Study and Laser Uncovering of Hypogean Early Christian Wall Painting of Roma’s Catacombs of Santa Tecla and Domitilla; Scientific Examination for the Investigation and Conservation of Far East Asian Mural Paintings; Maya Mural Paintings in Calakmul: Pictorial Technique and Conservation; The Colours of Indigenous Memory: Non-Invasive Analyses of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican Codices; Material Study of the Codex Colombino; Unveiling the Artistic Technique of the Florentine Codex: When the Old World and The New World Met; Colour In Medieval Portuguese Manuscripts: Between Beauty and Meaning; The Wall Paintings of the Monumental Cemetery of Pisa: The War, the Restoration, the Conservation;The Chemistry and Chemical Investigation of the Transition from Egg Tempera Painting To Oil In Italy In The 15th Century; Multi-Criterial  Studies of The Masterpiece ‘The Last Judgement’, A Triptych Attributed To Hans Memling, At The National Museum of Gdańsk (2010-2013); Science and Conservation the Florentine O.P.D. and Raphael’s Madonna of The Goldfinch; Underdrawing In the Renaissance Paintings; An Integrated Approach To The Study and Preservation of Paintings Using Laser Light Technology; Diagnosis, Analysis and Cleaning; « Mens Agitat Molem »: New Insights into Nicolas Poussin’s Painting Technique by X-Ray Diffraction and Fluorescence Analyses; Japanese Painting of the Eighteen Century; As Time Passed By Came Sunset. Christen Købke’s View of Lake Sortedam, Its Genesis and Colour Changes; Examination of Vincent Van Gogh’s Paintings and Pigments by Means of State-of-The-Art Analytical Methods; A Vibrant Surface: Investigating Color, Texture and Transparency in Winslow Homer’s Watercolors; After The Fact; Evaluating Our Interdisciplinary Study of Mondrian’s Victory Boogie Woogie; Argentinean Murals: Conservation and Characterization of Pictorial Techniques; Material and Technical Studies of Some Paintings by Candido Portinari, A Major Brazilian Modernist Painter; Modern Painted Palimpsests. Deciphering the Artworks of Osvaldo Licini; The Burri Project: Researches for Technique and Conservation; John Hoyland: A British Master of Acrylic Painting; Outdoor Painted Surfaces in Contemporary Art; The Elusive and Transitory Materials in Contemporary Drawings;

About the Author

Antonio Sgamellotti is an Academician of Lincei and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Perugia. He is also Co-founder of the Center of Excellence SMAArt (Scientific Methodologies applied to Archaeology and Art). His research interests include advanced computations on chemistry, electronic and structural properties of molecules and inorganic materials, spectroscopic properties and characterization of archaeological and art-historical artefacts.


Brunetto Giovanni Brunetti is a Full Professor of General and Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Perugia. He is also the coordinator for the European project CHARISMA (Cultural Heritage Advanced Research Infrastructures: Synergy for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Conservation/Restoration) and President of the Center of Excellence SMAArt (Scientific Methodologies applied to Archaeology and Art).


Costanza Miliani is a researcher at the CNR Institute of Molecular Science and Technology (CNR-ISTM) and coordinator of the mobile laboratory MOLAB of the CHARISMA project. His research interests include non-invasive spectroscopic techniques for in-situ investigations on cultural heritage.

Reviews

This volume shows a global solution to a long-discussed problem: how to get scientists, art historians and conservators working together. The book presents a host of projects where collaboration has allowed all of these groups to learn from one another. Some chapters describe the science and techniques, useful for scientists wishing to work in a similar setting; others focus on the art, showing how the results of scientific studies have led to a deeper understanding of a corpus of artifacts, linking to particular cultural traditions.Science and art also provides an excellent read for art historians, who will instantly recognise the famous pieces that have been studied, while giving them insight into how a painting was constructed, what it is made from, or how the colours would have looked when they were freshly painted. -- Catherine Emma Nicholson Chemistry World Although aimed at both scholars and students, the book is more than just technical descriptions: it also covers art history and provenance and should appeal to those who appreciate art, not just artists and curators. Several chapters of interest to those who appreciate applications of analytical science to works of art representing their personal interests. This book could be an inspiration for courses titled Chemistry for Artists and Art Historians. In addition, various chapters could be inspiration for student research projects, especially for contemporary art. Science and Art is recommended for students, teachers, and the general public who are interested in chemistry or other sciences and art, as well as applications of the former to the latter. -- Robert E. Buntrock Journal of Chemical Education This volume shows a global solution to a long-discussed problem: how to get scientists, art historians and conservators working together. The book presents a host of projects where collaboration has allowed all of these groups to learn from one another.Some chapters describe the science and techniques, useful for scientists wishing to work in a similar setting; others focus on the art, showing how the results of scientific studies have led to a deeper understanding of a corpus of artifacts, linking to particular cultural traditions.Unsurprisingly, given the editorial board of the book, Science and art gives the reader an overview of the diverse range of projects that Charisma (cultural heritage advanced research, a multidisciplinary conservation and restoration project) researchers have been involved with. The book shows a number of analytical techniques that are now becoming essential in conservation science. Charisma researchers, along with other scientific experts, used their expertise to reveal hidden depths in many famous works.The book discusses various techniques, focusing on non-invasive methods such as infrared reflectance, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence and multispectral imaging as well as the more exotic synchrotron x- ray analysis.Science and art also provides an excellent read for art historians, who will instantly recognise the famous pieces that have been studied, while giving them insight into how a painting was constructed, what it is made from, or how the colours would have looked when they were freshly painted.I was struck by the editors' choice not to only focus on European works, but to take a worldwide view, including chapters on Mayan manuscripts, Tibetan paintings and Japanese panels. This clearly shows that this blossoming research area requires even more bridges to be built, spanning research communities and forging stronger links between them. -- Catherine Emma Nicholson Chemistry World