"San Cristoforo," by Giulio Benso (1592–1668), lipid connected canvas 74x90 cm (inv. 162) from the postulation of Professor Antonio Ceci (1920). On the right: Flax fibres from a coating covered successful layers of antithetic materials (glue, plaster, paint, etc.) observed by scanning electron microscope. Credit: Anthony Magueresse and Alessia Melelli
The usage of renewable works resources, specified arsenic flax fibers, to plan durable materials is an indispensable milestone successful the modulation to a bioeconomy based connected the rational usage of biomass. However, these caller eco-materials are often confronted with mistrust astir their spot and durability compared to materials derived from petroleum resources.
The survey of utmost aging poses time-scale problems for scientists who are often forced to edifice to artificially accelerating processes successful the laboratory, astatine the hazard of deviating from reality. Flax is simply a works that has been cultivated and utilized to marque assorted objects for thousands of years and successful peculiar to marque canvas. This is wherefore the probe squad studied the canvases of 4 paintings from the Baroque period, dated betwixt the 17th and 18th centuries and exhibited successful the Civic Art Gallery of Ascoli Piceno successful Italy, and whose conservation methods had been traced. This enactment complements the 1 published successful September successful Nature Plants connected the investigation of 4000-year-old Egyptian mortuary linen, by the aforesaid French squad successful collaboration with the Louvre Museum, FEMTO-ST (Besançon), LMGC (Montpellier) and the University of Cambridge.
Analytical methods that sphere the integrity of the paintings
One of the challenges of this survey was the constraints related to the postulation and investigation of samples that had to sphere the humanities paintings, arsenic immoderate illustration obtained from a practice entity indispensable beryllium returned. 4 cm² were taken from the backmost of each canvas successful areas that were not disposable and that did not degrade the work. Subsequently, the researchers utilized respective precise high-resolution optical investigation methods to survey the fibre operation of the samples without degrading them. They utilized atomic unit microscopy to representation the aboveground of the samples arsenic good arsenic the stiffness of the fibers astatine the nanoscale. They besides utilized two-photon microscopy, NMR spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy to analyse the organization, biochemical improvement and operation of the flax fibers composing the fabrics.
Environmental variations: the main origin successful aging
Counter-intuitively, the results amusement that fibers from fabrics a fewer 100 years aged person undergone much marked degradation than those from thousand-year-old Egyptian mortuary linens. A wide stiffness was recovered successful astir each the past fibers compared to a modern linen yarn. However, the yarns successful the paintings besides showed different structural defects specified arsenic fibre fragmentation owed to oxidation, arsenic good arsenic fungal attacks that severely degraded the fibre operation by forming "tunnels" and fractures successful the fibers.
In presumption of aging, the fibers of the paintings person been nether changeless tension, but they person besides been exposed to variations successful humidity and somesthesia arsenic good arsenic to aerial contamination during their accumulation successful churches oregon backstage collections earlier their acquisition by the Civic Art Gallery. In summation to these factors, the effects of different aging agents specified arsenic glue, plaster and overgarment tin marque them much akin to caller procreation objects specified arsenic composites, successful which respective materials coexist—often of a precise antithetic nature—to signifier a caller worldly combining and improving the properties of the archetypal materials. The scientists person shown that definite conservation techniques applied successful the 19th century, specified arsenic lining with glue paste, made from flour and carnal glue, person contributed to the semipermanent degradation of the paintings. In the end, the paintings that person undergone the astir variations successful their situation oregon that person undergone treatments during their conservation are the astir degraded.
This enactment provides invaluable accusation connected the behaviour and show improvement of earthy fibers. It is some utile for the plan of robust eco-materials that volition past implicit time, but besides provides invaluable accusation connected the authorities of conservation of humanities objects. While this enactment focuses connected flax, the method is besides applicable to different fibers utilized passim history, including hemp, utilized for enactment and vessel sails. The squad is present studying flax textiles from different periods and origins. In 2022, the French National Research Agency (ANR) ANUBIS task volition commence, led by IRDL successful collaboration with the SOLEIL Synchrotron, the University of Cambridge, the Egyptian Museum successful Cairo and INRAE.
More information: Alessia Melelli et al, Chemical, morphological and mechanical survey of the ageing of textile flax fibers from 17th/18th-century paintings connected canvas, Journal of Cultural Heritage (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.culher.2021.10.003
Alessia Melelli et al, Lessons connected textile past and fibre durability from a 4,000-year-old Egyptian flax yarn, Nature Plants (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-00998-8
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