The Chiaravalle Cross: Results of a Multidisciplinary Study

Abstract

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.

The Importance of Multidisciplinary Analytical Strategies to Solve Identification and Characterization Challenges in Gemology: The Example of the “Green Stones”

“…Regarding the multidisciplinary protocols, the characterization study of the Chiaravalle Cross can be considered as an example. Indeed, this cross is a medieval masterpiece belonging to the Duomo of Milan Museum collection (Italy), where a total of 985 gemstones are set, including four Trapiche Sapphires representing the first Trapiches found in history, and has been studied and used to develop a specific multidisciplinary protocol, involving experts of many different disciplines [34].…”

“…It means that it is possible to profit from this expertise; not only for gemstone identification and characterization, but also to recognize eventual counterfeiting. Indeed, some authors report several issues correlated with the authenticity of objects even within collections of museums [20,21,34,[39][40][41][42]. Since some samples may have no documented or incomplete provenance, a gap in information and authenticity doubt is possible [43][44][45].…”