Portrait of Mario Nuzzi”: a Preliminary Analytical Study of Mario Nuzzi’S Pictorial Production and of His Artistic Collaborations

Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2020) 135:616 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00607-1 Regular Article New insights on the painting “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi”: a preliminary analytical study of Mario Nuzzi’s pictorial production and of his artistic collaborations Lucilla Pronti1, Martina Romani1,a , Ombretta Tarquini2, Gianluca Verona-Rinati3, Francesco Petrucci4, Marcello Colapietro2, Augusto Pifferi2, Marco Marinelli3, Mariangela Cestelli-Guidi1 1 INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 54, 00044 Frascati, RM, Italy 2 C.N.R. Istituto di Cristallografia–Montelibretti, Via Salaria Km 29300, 00015 Monterotondo, RM, Italy 3 INFN-Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy 4 Palazzo Chigi, Piazza di Corte, 14, 00040 Ariccia, RM, Italy Received: 2 March 2020 / Accepted: 13 July 2020 © Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract The study and characterization of an art work carried out by two or more artists is always an interesting challenge since each painter, although belonging to the same artistic current, can introduce specific pictorial materials or peculiar aesthetic effects, which consti- tute the artist fingerprint. This work presents a preliminary analytical study of the “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi”, painted by Giovanni Maria Morandi and Mario Nuzzi. In particular, non- invasive investigations were conducted using UV–VIS–NIR–SWIR multispectral imaging, radiography and X-ray spectroscopy (XRF). Multivariate analyses (PCA) were performed on VIS–NIR multispectral imaging in order to highlight some details not clearly visible using a traditional univariate analysis. Such an approach could be useful for authentication pro- cesses. In particular, in this paper we propose the use of the score density plot to determine the artist’s “chiaroscuro” fingerprint. Finally, the artist’s palette was compared with that of the “Primavera” painting, painted by Mario Nuzzi and Filippo Lauri, by using XRF analyses. We discovered that “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi” has not been significantly changed since the final version. Furthermore, the elemental composition of the pigments revealed that the palette used in the two paintings does not completely overlap. This aspect encourages us to perform a more detailed analysis of the pigments with the aim of better discriminating the parts painted by Mario Nuzzi from those of each collaborator. 1 Introduction It is known that paintings were often made with the contribution of several painters, who usually left their artistic “signature” in various details around the surface of the painting. This has been noted above all in artworks associated with a specific artist (i.e. Verrocchio’s workshop, Michelangelo’s workshop) [1] and/or in the retouching carried out for possible his- a e-mail: [email protected] (corresponding author) 0123456789().: V,-vol 123 616 Page 2 of 14 Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2020) 135:616 torical–political purposes (for example the repainting of Siviero on Sironi’s fascist artworks) [2]. It must be said that it can be very difficult to establish which parts could have been painted by one artist rather than another, even after performing scientific analyses, since the materials and execution techniques can be very close and the artistic notions can be approximately the same. However, archaeometric investigations can be very useful for reconstructing the areas of intervention of an artist or for tracing the historical events of a work of art; in fact, some scientific research aims to develop databases of the artistic materials used by some artists [3–6] or to improve analytical techniques and data post-processing methods to support stylistic studies and support the authentication process [7]. Collaborations between artists can arise for several reasons. One of these may be the strong ability of a specific artist to make detailed motifs or figures, as the case of Mario Nuzzi, also called Mario de’ Fiori, who was the main specialist in the genre of flower still life in the XVII century [8]. Mario Nuzzi was a roman painter of Baroque style and made several paintings for Cardinal Flavio Chigi, one of the most important collectors of Nuzzi’s paintings. Among these, there are four paintings depicting the seasons and portrait of Mario Nuzzi which were painted in collaboration with other important artists of the time and are kept in Palazzo Chigi (Ariccia, Rome). In particular, it is known that Filippo Lauri painted the figures in “Primavera”, Carlo Maratta in “Summer”, Giacinto Brandi in “Autumn” and Bernardino Mei in “Winter”, while Giovanni Maria Morandi posed Nuzzi intent on portraying a vase of flowers [9]. Mario Nuzzi is a painter not very known from the point of view of archaeometry, as well as other artists who worked at Palazzo Chigi. Therefore, the study of the artist’s palettes and the execution techniques of these artworks could be extremely important for reconstructing the operational phases of the artistic collaboration. In this paper, we report the results of non-destructive analyses performed on the portrait of Mario Nuzzi, which he performed in collaboration with Giovanni Maria Morandi. The presence of underdrawings and “pentimenti” was detected by NIR-SWIR reflectog- raphy and radiography. Furthermore, the VIS–NIR multispectral images were acquired and processed through principal component analysis (PCA) in order to highlight some details that are not clearly visible using a univariate approach (analysing single images). This approach has been well demonstrated on other scientific works, for both the identification of pictorial materials or degradation products [10–12] and to identify “pentimenti” [13, 14]. Although hyperspectral imaging associated with chemometric analysis is well-established approach in the field of cultural heritage due to the intrinsic need to “reduce” a large amount of data, its application on linked multispectral images is not yet widespread, especially for the identification of “pentimenti” and pictorial details useful for the authentication of the paintings. In the latter field, the potential value of multispectral imaging coupled with chemometric analysis has not been yet studied extensively. For example, this approach could be suitable for defining the “chiaroscuro” technique for each artist that could represent a method of authenticating the artworks [7]. PCA is useful for emphasizing the “chiaroscuro” method the considering not only the RGB spectral range (i.e. the photographic image) but also VIS–NIR multispectral ones. Furthermore, this approach shows even more advantages if we consider that white and brown/black pigments could show a specific spectral behaviour in the visible (i.e. zinc white, titanium white and lead white) [15] and infrared ranges (i.e. carbon- and iron-based pigments) [16]. 123 Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2020) 135:616 Page 3 of 14 616 Fig. 1 The painting of “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi” (a) and the painting “Primavera” (b) To support the results obtained from UV–VIS–NIR–SWIR imaging analyses, the use of complementary techniques with a high identification capacity of pigments and mixtures is often considered, such as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) [17, 18]. In this work, we present the analysis of inorganic pigments performed by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy on the portrait of Mario Nuzzi and on the “Primavera”, a painting created by Mario Nuzzi and Filippo Lauri, in order to compare the palettes. 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Materials 2.1.1 The “four seasons” paintings at Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia (Rome) The painting represents one of the most emblematic works of the Roman Baroque style, both for the pictorial quality and for the fusion of two pictorial genres: still life and the portrait. The canvas belongs to a celebratory circle: “four seasons”, painted by Mario de’ Fiori himself in collaboration with Giacinto Brandi, Filippo Lauri, Carlo Maratti and Bernardino Mei, inaugurating the decorative genre in which figurative artists and still life painters collaborate for the same project, or “mixed painting”. The series was commissioned by the Cardinal Flavio Chigi between April 1658 and December 1659. 2.1.2 The “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi” at Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia (Rome) The “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi” is an oil painting on canvas, 191×262 cm (Fig. 1a). It is a typ- ical example of a Baroque portrait in which the Caravaggio style joins Bernini’s theatricality: the painter turns suddenly as if he were called by an external interlocutor, interrupting the painting of the floral composition; a large curtain introduces us to the scene reproducing the effect of the theatrical act. The large canvas comes from the stitching of two different identical canvases, as revealed by the vertical trace in the centre of the painting; in this way, the two artists had the opportunity to work separately, even if the still life on the left, painted by Mario Nuzzi, was painted before the other one painted by Giovanni Maria Morandi, otherwise it would not have been possible to paint the floral composition on the painted canvas. 123 616 Page 4 of 14 Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2020) 135:616 2.1.3 The “Primavera” of Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia (Rome “Primavera” is an oil painting on canvas, 150×250 cm (Fig. 1b). In this painting, the figure represents “Flora” and was painted by Filippo Lauri, while the floral composition was painted by Mario Nuzzi. Caravaggio’s style also emerges in this painting and the baroque and festive leaves/fruits make the scene rich in details. 2.2 Methods 2.2.1 VIS–NIR–SWIR multispectral imaging VIS and NIR multispectral imaging were taken with a converted NIR camera (Nikon D7100). The camera is equipped with three band-pass filters centred at 370 nm, 440 nm, 526 nm (Edmund Optics) and five long pass filters above 600 nm, 695 nm, 780 nm, 830 nm and 1000 nm.

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