Casting Light on 20th-Century Parisian Artistic Bronze: Insights from Compositional Studies of Sculptures Using Hand-Held X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I appreciated reading this detailed study very much - thanks to the authors! It is a well researched, profound study on 19th early 20th century artistic bronzes; I wish there would be more such detailed studies.

No critics to mention, only a wish:

Considering the fact that portable XRF analyses are semi-quantitative and surface analyses only, and the bronzes were all patinated, it would be very interesting to know more about the applied patination (process, potential etchants used, ecc.).

Author Response

We would like to warmly thank Reviewer 1 for his/her positive review.

In order to meet, reviewer 1 report, minor spell check has been made.

Reviewer 2 Report

The article deals with XRF analysis on a series of 19th and 20th centuries bronzes. The topic is relevant and it is well discussed. The artistic context is well described in the introduction giving information useful from the artistic point of view. 

Only few comments on the selection of the analysed samples:

i) Considering the resolution of the instrument, the variations reported in table Annexe 1 between bronzes coming from the same foundry (Barbedienne) are too small to be considerad relevant. In this regard, it can be useful to know for each bronze the number of analysed points and the presence of fluctuations in the obtained values;

ii) XRF is a technique well suited for surface analysis and thus it is highly influenced from surface treatments and defects, such as delaminations, and thus the composition values can be different in the various parts of the statue. It may be useful to specify the criteria adopted to choose the selected points.

Author Response

We would like to warmly thank Reviewer 2 for his/her positive review.

Please find attached the revised manuscript, following comments below:

i) we added the standard deviation to the Table values in appendix 1 and added a short pragraph in section 4.1: 'The variations reported in Appendix 1 between bronzes coming from the same foundry (Barbedienne) are too small to be considered relevant and represent real differences of composition.'

In the table description and experimental parts we also added information about the number of locations analyzed: 'For each of the Daumier’s sculptures, 10 points meeting these criteria were analysed: six at the surface of the patinated surface (covering full height of the bronze), and four from the base where the patina is visually absent.'

ii)The criteria adopted to select area of analyses are described in the experimental section as:

'It is well known that maintaining consistent orientation of the hand-held instrument with respect to the analyzed surface is crucial in order to obtain reproducible results [21]. Thus, whenever possible, flat areas of metal were selected, covering the entire aperture of the instrument, ensuring good contact between the object and the instrument’s measuring head. For each of the Daumier’s sculptures, 10 points meeting these criteria were analysed: six at the surface of the patinated surface (covering full height of the bronze), and four from the base where the patina is visually absent.'