• Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage

Abstract Romanian wooden churches with a secco ornamentation have Slavic counterparts in Central and Northern Europe, but the Romanian wooden churches with inner and outer frescoes constitute a unique heritage in that they require specific conservation techniques. Although there are a number of initiatives to rescue this heritage, to the best of our knowledge, no one has characterised these frescoes from the wooden churches using a variety of analytical techniques. This paper aimed to investigate the state of conservation and the composition of the frescoes in the wooden church of Ionestii Govorii Commune, Vâlcea County, Oltenia Region, Romania. The investigations were undertaken to characterise the materials, techniques and degradation products of the fresco paintings on wood and to help answer specific questions regarding the state of conservation of these paintings. In situ observations have revealed an advanced state of degradation of the monument with wide gaps in the fresco and substantial fresco detachment from the wooden wall. The mortar used for the fresco consists of fine-grained carbonated lime (used as binder), fine-grained silica aggregate, porous fragments of limestone and cellulosic (plant) fibres. The mass of the lime plaster has preserved mineral fragments of bioclasts pertaining to foraminifera and shell fragments. The non-invasive and micro-destructive analyses enabled us to reconstruct the palette used by the painter. Non-germinated spores of filamentous fungi are found on the surface of the wooden structure. Furthermore, SEM images have revealed hyphae on cross-sections in the lime plaster (intonaco) and at the surface of the painted layer. Specific investigation techniques have revealed the presence of gypsum and calcium oxalate on the painted surface of the fresco.

In the meantime main results and further considerations have been published by THALEN (Acta bot.neerl. 20: 317–349,1971) FRESCO (in Grundfragen und Aufgaben der Pflanzensoziologie, ed. E. VAN DER MAAREL & R.TUXEN, 1972 p.99–112) and VAN DER MAAREL (in: The scientific management of animal and plant communities, ed. E. DUFFEY & A.S. WATT, 1971, p.45–63). See also VAN DER MAAREL On vegetational structures, relations and systems’. Thesis 1966, Utrecht; VAN DER MAAREL & LEERTOUWER, Acta bot.neerl.16: 211–221, 1967.

In this chapter, Giotto's Assisi fresco, “Exorcism of the Demons at Arezzo,” was modelled and analysed in three-dimensions. The process revealed that Giotto's techniques for creating the illusion of depth in his paintings were more advanced than initially thought. His Exorcism fresco was chosen as it is often heralded as an exemplar of the initial shift to the later perspective style of the Renaissance proper. The 3D modelling of the fresco revealed much that could not be deduced by other means. An aerial view of the architectural elements in his fresco shows Giotto's ordered urban layout. That a fully perspective view can be generated, which closely matches the original fresco, suggests a deeper understanding of the geometric construction of depth cues in Giotto's work than previously reported.

AbstractIn this article we present the results of a geomorphological and geophysical investigation carried out in the Regional Park of Matera Murgia, also known as Park of the Rupestrian Churches (world site protected by UNESCO), in Basilicata region, southern Italy. The aim of this investigation is to support the scheduled restoration works in some rupestrian historical sites and the safety of the tourist route that connects the churches along the eastern side of Gravina river valley. In particular, a ground penetrating radar (GPR) prospection was conducted on frescoed surfaces in two rupestrian churches permitting the detection of different kinds of problems affecting the fresco surfaces, such as lesions and efflorescence.

The ongoing restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel has aroused heated controversy. The author of this article, who is no stranger to the debate, here demonstrates that the restorers, acting on the misguided assumption that they were undoing damage done by their predecessors, in fact removed a pentimento by the artist himself. In the first phase of the project in 1980-85, the naked breast of the woman holding an infant in the lunette inscribed "SALMON BOOZ OBETH" was "discovered" through the elimination of the bit of drapery that had covered it. The Vatican team claimed that the drapery, painted a secco instead of buon fresco, was a later addition motivated by prudery. However, none of the proposed datings for the alleged intervention is remotely convincing. Nor has it been explained why, out of all the exposed breasts depicted in the frescoes, this one would have been singled out for censorship. That Michelangelo was responsible for adding the drapery is clear from the presence of the drapery over the breast in sixteenth-century engravings of the figure and, in particular, in a drawing done in the decades following completion of the ceiling.