The thermal analysis has been widely applied to the investigation of the structure and of the materials of artworks. Different kind of cultural heritage have been inspected, in particular, by means of the active thermography, a technique based on the analysis of the temperature distribution at the surface of an artifact, evolving as a consequence of a given thermal stimulation. Such a technique enables to detect the presence of sub-surface defects and inhomogeneities and offers several advantages, the main one being its non destructive character. In this work we present an application of the active thermography to the study of a bronze statue. In particular, we refer to a copy of a bronze statue which can be obtained from a single original model using the indirect casting process. The artist’s original model is hence preserved by this method and can be used as a reference during the surface finishing and refinement of the casting performed by means of a variety of filing, polishing, and chasing tools. The aim of the present research is in particular to investigate the processing of bronze surfaces, giving the possibility to reveal the cold working hidden under the final polishing.
Orazi, N., Mercuri, F., Paoloni, S., Zammit, U., Marinelli, M., Scudieri, F., et al. (2011). Thermographic inspection of historical bronze statues.. In Proceeding of ART’11 10th international conference on non-destructive investigations and microanalysis for the diagnostics and conservation of cultural and environmental heritage. Florence, 13-15 April 2011 (pp.--).
Thermographic inspection of historical bronze statues.
MERCURI, FULVIO;PAOLONI, STEFANO;ZAMMIT, UGO;MARINELLI, MASSIMO;SCUDIERI, FOLCO;
2011-01-01
Abstract
The thermal analysis has been widely applied to the investigation of the structure and of the materials of artworks. Different kind of cultural heritage have been inspected, in particular, by means of the active thermography, a technique based on the analysis of the temperature distribution at the surface of an artifact, evolving as a consequence of a given thermal stimulation. Such a technique enables to detect the presence of sub-surface defects and inhomogeneities and offers several advantages, the main one being its non destructive character. In this work we present an application of the active thermography to the study of a bronze statue. In particular, we refer to a copy of a bronze statue which can be obtained from a single original model using the indirect casting process. The artist’s original model is hence preserved by this method and can be used as a reference during the surface finishing and refinement of the casting performed by means of a variety of filing, polishing, and chasing tools. The aim of the present research is in particular to investigate the processing of bronze surfaces, giving the possibility to reveal the cold working hidden under the final polishing.Questo articolo è pubblicato sotto una Licenza Licenza Creative Commons
