Towards a non-invasive approach for the characterization of Arabic/Christian manuscripts

The conservation and restoration of paper artworks play a fundamental role in the field of our Cultural Heritage. In this contest, the characterization of paper composition as well as degradation state is fundamental to determine the suitable restoration and conservation processes for paper artworks. In this work, we present an interdisciplinary study focalized on the not-invasive characterization of a group of 16 precious Arabic-Christian manuscripts (originating from different regions of the Arabian Peninsula used in Christian environment) of XIII century, collected in the Vatican Library (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana – BAV, Vatican City). The aim of this study is focused onto the characterization of papers and inks compositions of these manuscripts, in order to understand if there are similarity between them, and in same way, to obtain information about the provenience of them. For this goal, several analytical techniques were applied by using portable instrumentation directly in the restoration laboratory of BAV, such as Infrared Reflectography, X-ray fluorescence and colorimetry. In addition, High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV/VIS detection and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy were applied for the evaluation of the composition and the conservation status of these books by the analyses of the material, removed by a sampling method based on the sponges mainly used for cleaning of paper artworks. Crossing the obtained results, we can characterize the composition of the paper and the inks, used in the various manuscripts. They present the same characteristics in terms of chemical composition, not linked on the region where the book was found, underlining that the used protocol for the paper and its production were the same in the Arabic Peninsula.