AlessiaCoccato_kaft_v3.pdf 1 10/05/2017 10:03:51 The non-destructive examination of paintings, pigments, and their degradation of examination The non-destructive Application of Raman and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies to Cultural Heritage materials Heritage Cultural to spectroscopies fluorescence and X-ray Raman of Application Application of Raman and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies to Cultural Heritage materials The non-destructive examination of paintings, pigments, and their degradation C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Alessia Coccato Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Archaeology Alessia Coccato Alessia Supervisor Prof. dr. Peter Vandenabeele Department of Archaeology – Ghent University Co-supervisor Prof. dr. Danilo Bersani Department of Physics and Earth Sciences – University of Parma Dean Prof. dr. Marc Boone Rector Prof. dr. Anne De Paepe Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Archaeology 2017 Thanks to my supervisor, Prof. dr. Peter Vandenabeele, for the opportunity and for the support through the years. I do appreciate (now) all the challenges you proposed me, and all the times you had to push me to do more. It hasn’t always been easy, or smooth, but I have made it this far. Thanks for having trusted me. Thanks to Prof. dr. Danilo Bersani, for having first planted the Raman-seed almost 10 years ago, when I first started studying conservation science. Thanks for the feedback, for the scientific cooperations and for the support. Thanks to Prof. dr. Luc Moens, for the kind curiosity on whatever new project I was working on. Thanks for the great effort to make the Raman Group projects advance, and for being always positive. I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the European FP7 MEMORI project, which allowed me to take part to the fruitful discussions of the consortium, even though I joined in the final stages of the project. Special thanks to the colleagues at English Heritage, Paul Lankester and David Thickett, for the input and feedback regarding pigment sensitivity and degradation. Next to this, the GOA project of Ghent University “Archaeometrical research of the Ghent Altarpiece” is greatly acknowledged. Thanks to this project, I had the chance to admire the outer wing panels closely during the conservation treatment, and to appreciate on the one hand Van Eyck’s mastery, and on the other, the incredible work of the conservation team. I would like to thank the conservators from KIK-IRPA, especially Bart and Hélène, for the help during our measurement sessions, and in the interpretation of our results. Thanks to dr. Jana Sanyova (KIK-IRPA, Brussels, Belgium), for having shared her expertise, and for having welcomed us in the institute, to learn more about the study of paint samples. Thanks as well for the cooperation on the study of cross sections of green paint layers of the Ghent Altarpiece, and for being part of my Doctoral Advisory Committee. i Thanks to Prof. dr. Wim De Clercq, for the advice and feedback kindly provided as member of my Doctoral Advisory Committee, and as a jury member for my PhD. Thanks to Prof. dr. Maximiliaan Martens, also member of my Doctoral Advisory Committee. Thanks for all the information on the history of the Ghent Altarpiece. Thanks for your commitment to the GOA project as well (including transport of people and instrumentation to the museum)! Thanks for the art historical input on my thesis. Thanks to the other jury members, Prof.dr. Jean Bourgeois, dr. Kepa Castro, dr. Claudia Conti, Prof. dr. Philippe Crombé, Prof. dr. José Mirão, for having taken the time to read my work, and to give me valuable feedback on the work done so far. Thanks to Prof. dr. Jan Jehlička (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) for the geological insight on carbons for the paper on carbon-based black pigments, and for the feedback on the interpretation of Raman spectra. Thanks to Alexia Coudray (KIK-IRPA, Brussels, Belgium) for the measurements and photos of the Ghent Altarpiece cross section and copper resinate samples. Thanks to dr. Bart Vekemans and Prof. dr. Laszlo Vincze, for having shared with me their knowledge about X-rays. Thanks for the training sessions (hXRF, TXRF, data processing, scientific writing), for the detailed feedback, and encouragement. Thanks to the colleagues at Universities of Catania and Salento, and of the Soprintendenza dei Beni Culturali: Prof. dr. Germana Barone, Prof. dr. Paolo Mazzoleni, dr. Simona Raneri, Prof. dr. Nicola Francesco Neri, Prof. dr. Giuseppe Agostino, for the chance to perform in situ Raman analyses in Sala Vaccarini, for making the logistic arrangements, to Davide Manzini for providing the BWTek instrument and for agreeing on joining the measurement campaign on scaffoldings, and to everybody for the nice cooperation which resulted in a scientific paper. Thanks to Prof. dr. Simona Quartieri, dr. Giuseppe Sabatino, Luca Grioli (University of Messina), to the director of Museo Regionale Interdisciplinare di Messina, dr. Caterina Di Giacomo, and the staff members of the museum, for the opportunity to study Caravaggio and Caravaggeschi paintings, and for the effort to let us work in the best possible conditions, notwithstanding an unforeseen blackout on the day of the measurements. Thanks to the colleagues of University of Évora, for having allowed the measurement campaign in Funchal. Thanks to Prof. dr. Antonio Candeias and Prof. dr. José Mirão for the logistic support on site, and for having shared with us issues about their results, which led to the micro-Raman analysis of cross sections of Funchal’s Altarpiece in Ghent, for confirming and cross-checking results from other techniques. Thanks to the conservators on site, and for the staff of the Direcção Regional dos Assuntos Culturais in Madeira, for following us ii during the in situ campaign on the Altarpiece, and for welcoming us in the Museu Quinta das Cruzes, allowing us to measure their collection of glyptics. Thanks to the KongoKing/BantUGent research groups, for the fruitful cross• disciplinary cooperation on glass beads. Special thanks to Prof. dr. Koen Bostoen and to dr. Bernard Clist, for giving input and feedback on the archaeological samples, and to Charlotte Verhaeghe for having reached out to our research group for support (in the form of chemical analyses of her samples) for her master thesis. Thanks to dr. Karlis Karklins for having shared with us his extensive knowledge on European trade beads, and to the colleagues in Évora (Department of Chemistry, Department of Geosciences, Hercules laboratory) for the analyses that supported a detailed characterization of the composition of beads. Thanks to the Raman spectroscopy research group and to Archaeometry Ghent, and it’s not only work-related, to Anastasia, Debbie, Jolien, Mafalda, Possum and Sylvia. Thanks for the logistic and bureaucratic help when I arrived, when I moved and when I had no clue on what was going on. Thanks for all the trainings and sessions with new instruments, softwares, procedures. Thanks for all the science-related discussions. Thanks to Sylvia for the support in the lab, especially for the TXRF part. Special thanks to Debbie, we shared a lot during the last 4 years, as life happened while we were in the office. Thanks for all the translations, and for the nice atmosphere in the office, in the black tent at MSK, during conferences and beyond. Thanks for listening to me, and thanks for trusting me. Obrigada to Mafalda for having listened to my rambles (mostly weather-related) and to my explanations (even taking notes!), for the trips to Delhaize and for making my desk look even messier than what it is… Thanks to the fellow PhDs, postdocs, guests, staff, and professors whom I met in S12. Special thanks to Alice (and Simone), Asha, Farzin, Jan, Lara, Rosie, Yulia; to Sylvia and Kris for the organization of many fun activities. Thanks to Philip for the qwerty keyboard, and for all the help with computer-stuff. Thanks to Carlo, Winfried, Marianela, Giovanni. Thanks to the students, professors and staff at Archaeology as well, for the support and kindness during my (rare, very short) visits in UFO. Heel veel dank aan de vrienden die ik gedurende de Nederlandse lessen leerde kennen: Emiljano, Nuria, Pablo and Fien, Yulia and Jens, Marco jr, Marco- Fatma-Delia-Dafne. Thanks for having made the process of learning Dutch a bit more fun, and thanks for all the food and drinks and laughter and fun! You made me appreciate Ghent even more. It was lovely! Thanks to Geraldine and Bart for reminding me to breathe. Grazie a Elisa e Valeria per le lunghe chiacchierate in italiano, davanti a un’ottima birra belga: combinazione perfetta! Grazie alle mie compagne di Universita’ a Parma, soprattutto Erica e Vero. iii Grazie ai miei adorati fernesi, per farmi sentire ogni volta di nuovo cciovane! Siamo cresciuti parecchio in questi anni, ma fortunatamente certe cose non cambiano mai. Grazie ai miei compagni del liceo (soprattutto Irene, Maria, Mattero, Michele, Silvia, Zampo), grazie per i tentativi di organizzare rimpatriate, anche se gli impegni si mettono in mezzo. Continueremo a provarci, e prima poi ci riusciremo! Grazie alla Luni per l’affetto incondizionato. Grazie agli zii e cugini vicini e lontani, per farmi sapere regolarmente che mi pensano, e per la sana curiosita’ sulla mia vita in Belgio. Grazie a Suzy e Joe, per l’entusiasmo e l’affetto che riescono a trasmettermi, anche con un oceano di mezzo! Grazie a Kissi e Aldo per la dolcezza con cui mi accolgono ogni volta. Grazie alla ziaBa e alla Titti, che mi viziano e coccolano in ogni modo. Vi voglio un sacco di bene. Grazie a papa’ e mamma, per avermi dato davvero radici e ali, per avermi fatto credere in me stessa e per avermi supportato in ogni decisione.