Composition and microstructure of maiolica from the museum of ceramics in Ascoli Piceno (Italy): evidences by electron microscopy and microanalysis

Abstract

The present work focuses on majolica objects from the collection of the museum of ceramic in Ascoli Piceno (Italy). The scientific investigation was performed on fragments detached from seven maiolicas attributed to the Castelli production (Abruzzi region) and one majolica from the Ascoli Piceno production (Marche region). The Castelli artifacts (late sixteenth–early eighteenth century) belong to the decorated style known as ‘‘compendiario.’’ The piece from Ascoli Piceno recalls the decoration style of the other considered objects and is attributable to the\ud ‘‘Paci’’ manufacture (first half of the nineteenth century). The selected objects were investigated by fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy, micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with electron-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The ceramic bodies of all objects are calcareous, whereas the glazes are lead-alkali type opacified by tin dioxide. Blue and purplishred decorations were obtained by cobalt and manganese compounds dissolved in the glaze, respectively. Yellow and orange decorations were obtained by particles of lead antimonate and hematite. Finally, black decorations were\ud obtained using compounds rich in manganese and iron. The study contributes to knowledge on the production of Castelli ceramics and presents first archaeometric data on the maiolica production from Ascoli Piceno. The scientific examination highlights continuity with the Renaissance production, and the joint contribution of the three analytical techniques suggests distinctive features among different productions, thus integrating and refining the information obtained by the art-historical study

Geo-archaeology, archaeometry, and history of a seismic-endangered historical site in central Apennines (Italy)

“…From the Medieval Ages to the Renaissance in the Abruzzo region pottery production, there was a progressive decrease in the wt% of PbO in the glaze, up to a composition of approximately 50 wt% of SiO 2 and PbO, with traces of Al, Na, Mg, K, Ca, and Fe oxides (silicate-lead glazed pottery). In the fifteenth century, adding Sn to the glazes marked the passage to proto-majolica and majolica in the Abruzzo region [52]. The Modern Age differs from the ancient productions for the use below 40 wt% of PbO represented in the yellow area (silicate-alkaline glaze).…”

Some insight into “bronze quadrigati”: a multi-analytical approach

“…All measurements were performed with the commercial micro-XRF Eagle III-XPL (Roentgenanalytik Systeme GmbH & Co. KG, Taunusstein, Germany), already used for many applications in different fields (Vaggelli and Cossio 2012, Vaggelli et al 2013, Gulmini et al 2015. The instrument is an elemental analyzer, which combines an optical microscope to an ED-XRF spectrometer.…”

Mortar analysis of historic buildings damaged by recent earthquakes in Italy

“…FT-IR analysis made it possible to have an overview of the composition of the mortars [16] and, with regard to carbonates, silicates and sulphates, the intensity of their stretching signals were used to obtain a semiquantitative evaluation (Table 2). Table 2 allows us to draw the following considerations:  most of the samples from Amatrice (Lazio) did not display the characteristic signals of carbonates but only those of silicates;  mortars collected in the settlements of the municipalities of Arquata del Tronto (Marche) and Norcia (Umbria) show intense signals of carbonates and, in some cases, also of silicates.…”