Characterization of the Santa Maria del Fiore cupola construction tools using X-ray fluorescence

Abstract

<p class="Abstract">This paper presents the characterization of different tools employed in the construction of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence; they are part of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore collection and are currently exhibited in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. The analysed objects are turnbuckles, pulleys, three-legged lewises, and pincers; indeed, despite their uniqueness and their importance from the historical point of view, this study is the first one that investigates their alloys composition. Actually, this information can be of great interest for curators to find the best conservation strategies and to have new insights on the production techniques typical of the Renaissance. The study was performed using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) in order to identify the materials constituting the objects. Then, XRF spectra were analysed using chemometric techniques, namely Principal Components Analysis (PCA), in order to investigate possible similarities among different alloys and thus provide new indications to help collocating these tools in a specific historical period.</p>

Raman and micromorphological characterization of carbonates in plaster-like materials from the Natufian site of Eynan (Ain Mallaha), Israel

“…Mineralogical and micromorphological characterization is often performed in archaeological contests taking advantage of thin-section optical mineralogy, allowing to per- form petrographic studies to characterize the minerals and many other physical features that are present in the fabric of the artifact or sediment. On the other hand, other techniques are used to study archaeological materials, such as X-ray diffractometry (XRD), electron microscopy, X-Rays fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), FTIR, and Raman Spectroscopy [4], [5], [6]. It is worth noticing that even if the potential of these methods proved to be useful, some of them may present significant limitations.…”