Search Results (170)

This paper examines the iconography of the Mother of God holding a book in Early Christian and Medieval art, focusing on representations in which a book or scroll functions as an attribute of the Virgin Mary. Particular attention is given to scenes depicting Mary in relation to the Christ Child, Christ Pantocrator, and the Magnificat. The study explores the symbolic significance of the book and scroll through the textual tradition of the Church Fathers. Adopting the methodological approach to the iconographical structure developed by André Grabar, the paper centers on three interconnected case studies. First, it offers a close re-examination of a Marian scene on the ivory relief of the Werden casket (9th c.) of which the meaning is hard to understand. Second, it analyzes the depiction of the Mother of God in the vault of the crypt of Epiphanius at San Vincenzo al Volturno (9th c.), with particular emphasis on motifs that associate the image with the theme of Mary’s Triumph. Finally, it considers a fresco of Mary and Christ enthroned from the Egyptian monastery of Deir al-Suryan (10th c.), treating these works as semantically and conceptually related. Through this comparative analysis, the paper advances several interpretations of the Magnificat as articulated in Early Christian visual culture and developed in later periods with the contribution of the Byzantine theology. Given the well-established influence of Early Christian art on both the Carolingian Renaissance in the West and the Byzantine East, the shared iconographical details identified here—both formal and conceptual—are understood as deriving from a common visual tradition rooted in Antiquity. Full article

The main objective of the present study is to reveal the palette of pigments and the other specific constituent materials as well as the techniques used by the Roman artists to create the mural paintings discovered in the ancient city of Tomis, the modern-day Constanţa, Romania’s largest seaport and a major tourist hub on the Black Sea. This paper is an archeometric study based on the physical, chemical and biological analyses of the archeological Roman mural painting fragments from the ancient city of Tomis dating from the 5th to 6th century A.D. and to our knowledge is among the very few research studies carried out so far on the ancient Roman wall painting discovered in Romania. The methods of scientific investigation employed directly on the archeological fragments, on samples taken from the fragments and on the cross-sections prepared from the samples were: optical microscopy (OM), digital microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Examination and analysis of the archeological mural fragments revealed that the painted fragments consist of ground support and successive layers of color displaying specific characteristics of the artistic technique, such as imitation of marble cladding or meticulous smoothing of the surface to achieve a glossy and compact finish. It was also found that fragments exhibit subtle variations in different colors, identified in general terms, showing seven color tones: cinnabar red, red-violet, red ochre, yellow ochre, white, gray-blue, gray-black and black. The physical–chemical and biological analyses carried out provide the diagnosis and theoretical basis for choosing an appropriate conservation methodology and the correct restoration treatment of the discovered mural painting, with a view to its museum display through exhibition and virtual reconstruction and scientific use by the setting up of a useful database for researchers or specialists in museums on Roman archeology and art. Full article

Low-accessible Cultural Heritage, including hypogeal sites, rupestrian architectures, and fragile structures, represents a major challenge for conservation, documentation, and continuous monitoring. These limitations stem from multiple inaccessibility factors, classified as physical (morphological complexity), asset risk (microclimatic instability), health and safety (structural vulnerability), managerial (lack of public access), and cognitive (lack of documentation). This research aims to transform digital models from mere representational tools into integrated cognitive and operational systems supporting decision-making and preventive conservation. The proposed methodological workflow is structured into five main phases: Preliminary Knowledge and Multidisciplinary Data Structuring (Ph1. PK–MDS), Comprehensive Digital Survey (Ph2. CDS), Development of Integrated Digital Models (Ph3. IDMs), Advanced Diagnosis and Monitoring (Ph4. ADM) and the implementation of an Integrated Digital Environment for Hypogeal Heritage Management (Ph5. IDE). Ph4 operates on two complementary scales: at the site scale, range-based point clouds enable the semi-automatic identification of extensive decay patterns, such as biological colonization. At the detail scale, the Random Forest algorithm enables the segmentation and quantification of material loss on frescoed surfaces through a diachronic comparison of historical and current data. Validated on the San Pellegrino complex in Matera, selected as a paradigmatic case study of low-accessibility hypogeal sites, representative of a broader system comprising approximately 150 rupestrian cult architectures, the methodology demonstrates how immersive digital environments function as shared knowledge spaces, supporting more informed, inclusive, and resilient heritage conservative management. Full article

This study presents the first comprehensive assessment of a bacteriophage P100-activated edible whey-protein solution (WPS) applied to the rind of Sicilian Canestrato Fresco (SCF) cheese. Beyond evaluating its anti-Listeria efficacy in pre- and post-packaging contamination contexts, the work investigates the coating’s effects on chemical composition, volatilome, sensory properties, and consumer responses, including willingness to pay. To assess anti-Listeria activity, all samples were stored at 4 °C for 30 days. Contamination was carried out either before or after coating application, depending on the specific treatment. Listeria monocytogenes was monitored at 0, 1, 3, 7, 15, and 30 days of refrigerated storage. The active coating reduced the pathogen from approximately 3 log CFU/g to undetectable levels (0 log CFU/g) within 3 days, whereas the untreated controls reached about 5 log CFU/g after 30 days. WPS-coated cheeses showed no significant changes in chemical composition (moisture ~33%, protein ~29%, fat ~33%) or fatty acid profile compared to traditional SCF. The volatilome was dominated by hexanoic and butanoic acids and ethyl esters, without significant differences between coated and control samples, as confirmed by Smart Nose^® analysis. Sensory evaluation by trained assessors demonstrated that the bioactive coating did not alter the traditional sensory profile of SCF cheese. A consumer survey conducted with 240 participants from two retail formats revealed significant differences in product familiarity and perceived food safety, while openness to innovation and willingness to pay were similar. More than 90% of respondents were willing to pay a 10% price premium. Overall, phage-based edible coatings appear to be edible, renewable, and biodegradable packaging alternative to improve cheese safety without compromising quality. Full article

Roses held profound cultural and economic significance in ancient Greece and Rome, yet comprehensive documentation of their species diversity, cultivation practices, and horticultural innovations remains fragmented across archaeological, iconographic, and textual sources. This multidisciplinary study synthesizes evidence from classical texts, archaeological remains including recently identified rose stem fragments from Oplontis, and iconographic materials—including frescoes, coins, and mosaics—to reconstruct the horticultural systems and cultural landscape of roses in classical antiquity. Analysis of literary sources, particularly Theophrastus’s fourth-century BCE taxonomic descriptions, reveals systematic cultivation of diverse rose varieties with flowers ranging from white to deep crimson, including yellow variants, characterized by morphologies from simple to double forms and valued for fragrance intensity and re-blooming capacity. Archaeological evidence from sites such as Paestum, Pompeii, and Oplontis, including pollen samples, preserved wood fragments with diagnostic prickle patterns, and fresco representations, documents commercial rose production and specialized cultivation techniques that demonstrate significantly greater morphological diversity than textual sources alone indicate. Field research and collection documentation establish the origins of Mediterranean rose cultivation, while iconographic analysis identifies roses in religious ceremonies, festivals, and daily life contexts. Textual sources provide detailed propagation methods, seasonal management practices, and evidence of Mediterranean hybridization events, alongside extensive documentation of medicinal and cosmetic applications. Economic analysis reveals specialized trade networks, commercial production centers, and diverse applications in perfumery, garland making, and pharmaceutical industries. This research establishes that Greek and Roman civilizations developed sophisticated rose cultivation systems integrating botanical selection, horticultural innovation, and cultural symbolism that directly influenced medieval and Renaissance practices and informed modern trait categorization systems. These findings demonstrate the foundational role of classical antiquity in European rose heritage, revealing how ancient horticultural knowledge, species diversification through hybridization, and cultivation techniques created an unbroken transmission that shaped contemporary rose industries and established conservation priorities for this horticultural heritage. Full article

Urban pollution—especially SO₂ and particulate matter—rapidly darkens and degrades outdoor-exposed wall paintings due to soiling. Laser cleaning has emerged as a cutting-edge solution, offering selective removal of contaminant layers while preserving the integrity of the underlying materials. This study explores the performance of a 355 nm Nd:YAG laser in cleaning artificially aged paint mock-ups coated with real diesel soot and exposed to an accelerated aging test with SO₂ exposure. Traditional mineral pigments—silicates (Egyptian blue, ultramarine blue, and green earth), oxides (chromium green, mars red), and a sulphide (cinnabar)—were applied following fresco and secco (egg yolk) techniques, allowing researchers to uncover how pigment chemistry and binders affect laser sensitivity. Damage thresholds were first determined for each pigment and painting technique via digital photography, stereomicroscopy, and colour spectrophotometry. Cleaning efficacy was then assessed by stereomicroscopy, colour spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed clear patterns: silicate pigments exhibit stability under laser irradiation, enabling safe cleaning, whereas mars red and cinnabar remain highly sensitive regardless of the technique. Generally, secco paintings were more susceptible to laser radiation than fresco. These finding provide practical guidance for optimising laser-cleaning protocols while safeguarding the delicate surfaces of historic wall paintings. Full article

The gradual deterioration of fresco pictorial information presents a formidable obstacle for conservators dedicated to protecting humanity’s shared cultural legacy. Currently, scholars in the field of mural conservation predominantly focus on image segmentation techniques as a vital tool for facilitating mural restoration and protection. However, the existing image segmentation methods frequently fall short of delivering optimal segmentation results. To address this issue, this study introduces a novel mural image segmentation approach termed NDFNGO, which integrates a nonlinear differential learning strategy, a decay factor, and a Fractional-order adaptive learning strategy into the Northern Goshawk Optimization (NGO) algorithm to enhance segmentation performance. Firstly, the nonlinear differential learning strategy is incorporated to harness the diversity and adaptability of differential tactics, thereby augmenting the algorithm’s global exploration capabilities and effectively improving its ability to pinpoint optimal segmentation threshold regions. Secondly, drawing on the properties of nonlinear functions, a decay factor is proposed to achieve a more harmonious balance between the exploration and exploitation phases. Finally, by integrating historical individual data, the Fractional-order adaptive learning strategy is employed to reinforce the algorithm’s exploitation capabilities, thereby further refining the quality of image segmentation. Subsequently, the proposed method was evaluated through tests on twelve mural image segmentation tasks. The results indicate that the NDFNGO algorithm achieves victory rates of 95.85%, 97.9%, 97.9%, and 95.8% in terms of the fitness function metric, PSNR metric, SSIM metric, and FSIM metric, respectively. These findings demonstrate the algorithm’s high performance in mural image segmentation, as it retains a significant amount of original image information, thereby underscoring the superiority of the technology proposed in this study for addressing this challenge. Full article

The consolidation of mural paintings presents a significant challenge for conservators, as the treatments applied must not only be effective but also preserve the aesthetic qualities of the artwork. Ongoing research focuses on developing new products that are more efficient, durable, and compatible with the physicochemical and aesthetic characteristics of the original materials, thereby addressing the limitations of existing consolidants. This study examines two consolidants for mural painting restoration: Estel 1200^® (C.T.S., Madrid, Spain), a commercially available and widely used ethyl silicate-based product, and Nanorepair UV^® (Patent: ES-2766074-B2, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain), a nanocomposite composed of calcium hydroxide nanoparticles doped with zinc quantum dots. On mortar specimens, prepared according to the Roman fresco technique, the application method for the proposed treatments was optimized. The applicability of the treatments for mural painting conservation was studied by colorimetric measurements and SEM imaging to detect and characterize the formation of surface layers. The effectiveness of the treatments was quantitatively evaluated with tape-peeling cycles. The results show that, although both treatments enhance the consolidation state of mural paintings, Nanorepair UV^® proved to be a more effective consolidant, without altering the aesthetic or physicochemical properties of the artwork. Additionally, this treatment allows for straightforward evaluation of its penetration and enables distinction between treated and untreated areas through the fluorescence of the zinc oxide quantum dots. Full article

This paper presents a knowledge-based and interpretative model for the conservation of the House of Arianna, located in the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, developed within the CHANGES project, Spoke 6—History, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage. The research focused on two critical components of the site: the free-standing peristyle columns and the mosaic and frescoed surfaces preserved in situ. This workflow yielded a high-resolution digital model, analytical condition maps, and diagnostic datasets that directly inform conservation decisions. The results show that the columns exhibit internal discontinuities and weaknesses at their joints, a condition linked to heterogeneous construction techniques which increases the risk of drum slippage under wind and seismic loading. The mosaics display a marked loss of tesserae in exposed sectors over recent years, driven by moisture ingress, biological growth and mechanical stress. These findings support the adoption of low-impact, reversible measures, embedded within a prevention-first strategy based on planned conservation. The study formalizes a replicable methodology that aligns diagnostics, monitoring and conservation planning. By linking ‘skin’ and ‘structure’ within a unified interpretative matrix, the approach enhances both structural safety and material legibility. The workflow proposed here offers transferable guidance for the sustainable preservation and inclusive interpretation of exposed archaeological ensembles in the Vesuvian context and beyond. Full article

This paper presents FRESCO (Fiber REinforced Strengthening COmposite Database), a comprehensive open-source database designed to systematically organize experimental data on infilled RC frame systems that can be strengthened with advanced composite materials, such as Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRP), Textile-Reinforced Mortars (TRM), and other fiber-based solutions. The database employs open source practices while providing high-quality output that is fully compatible with leading commercial software packages such as ANSYS 2022R2. It uses Python3 as the main programming language and FreeCAD v1.0 as the model generation engine, with a systematic 13-section structure that ensures complete documentation of all parameters necessary for numerical modeling and validation of analytical methods. Two types of databases are provided: in comma-separated format (.csv) for common everyday interaction and in JSON format (.json) for easy programmatic access. The database features automated 3D modeling capabilities, converting experimental data into detailed finite element models with solid RC frame geometry, reinforcement details, and infill configurations. Validation through three comprehensive examples demonstrates that numerical models generated from the database closely match experimental results, with response curves that closely match the initial stiffness, the peak loading and the post-peak stiffness degradation phase across different loading conditions. The database focuses on RC frame systems with unreinforced brick infill. Reflecting the term FRESCO, which in Greek (φρέσκο) means “fresh”, the database is designed as a dynamic, evolving resource, with future versions planned to include RC walls and full buildings. Full article

In his book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (1970), John Marco Allegro claimed that an obscure, 12th century CE fresco of the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Plaincourault Chapel in Mérigny, France, provided evidence of the persistence in Christian Europe of an underground sacred mushroom sect that had survived since New Testament times. At the heart of Allegro’s claim is the mushroom-like appearance of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the picture. Following up on Allegro’s claim, a small group of writers, led by Boston University’s Carl A. P. Ruck, spent decades seeking to validate Allegro’s theory by seeking out other examples of psychedelic mushrooms hidden in early Christian and Medieval art. The present article centers its discussion on the claims put forward by Allegro and his followers about the Plaincourault tree, but also about other images concerning which they have made similar claims. It concludes that the claims of Allegro and his followers concerning the Plaincourault tree fail due to their tendency to overpress similarities while ignoring differences. Full article

This study examines the pigments and materials used in Girolamo Romanino’s Musicians fresco (1537–1538), located in the Duomo Vecchio in Brescia, with the aim of identifying and analyzing the artist’s colour palette. Ten samples of the pictorial layer and mortar were collected from two frescoes and characterized using microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to define the best positions where single-point, spectroscopic techniques could be applied. Raman spectroscopy and micro-Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (micro-FTIR) were used to detect pigments and organic binders, respectively. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) provided additional insights into the mineral composition of the pigmenting layers, in combination with environmental scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (ESEM-EDS). The analysis revealed the use of traditional fresco pigments, including calcite, carbon black, ochres, and copper-based pigments. Smalt, manganese earths, and gold were also identified, reflecting Romanino’s approach to colour and material selection. Additionally, the detection of modern pigments such as titanium white and baryte points to restoration interventions, shedding light on the fresco’s conservation history. This research provides one of the most comprehensive analyses of pigments in Romanino’s works, contributing to a deeper understanding of his artistic practices and contemporary fresco techniques. Full article

Infrared thermography, with its ability to obtain information remotely and without contact, is often applied as a valuable method for investigating the surface layers of historical buildings. In this paper, the results of applying infrared thermography during academic investigations of two Italian treasures—the Sanctuary of Vicoforte in Piedmont and the airship hangar in Augusta, Sicily—are presented. At the Sanctuary of Vicoforte, imaging was performed to evaluate the condition of the exterior finishes and interior frescoes, while at the airship hangar, imaging was conducted to detect cracks that are difficult to observe using visible-light imaging. Full article

This essay argues that female representations at Qusayr Amra reflect a deliberate adaptation of pre-Islamic artistic traditions, expressing evolving Umayyad ideas of beauty, gender, and hierarchy. By analyzing the interplay between visual imagery and written texts, including the Qur’an, it reevaluates the significance of female figures and the representational choices made in 8th-century Umayyad palaces in Bilad al-Sham. Drawing on scholars such as Garth Fowden and Nadia Ali, and informed by contemporary gender studies, this essay foregrounds how artistic choices regarding female imagery negotiate social ideals of belief, gender, and power. The analysis begins by examining the development of figurative imagery in early Islam and its cultural context. It then offers a close reading of a key fresco challenging assumptions about modesty and figural representation. Through comparative analysis with another Umayyad site, this study highlights the complexities and meanings of female depictions, revealing diverse interpretations across contexts. While Patron Walid II was not the sole author of these choices, his patronage was crucial in enabling a bold engagement with Islamic visual culture. In doing so, this essay offers new insights into the complexities of early Islamic visual culture and its negotiation of social values. Full article