Articles

Colour Characterisation for the Restoration of a Japanese Handscroll


Abstract


In the restoration of painted artworks, the colour characterisation is a fundamental analysis to address the choice of suitable materials for the recovery and the consolidation of the painting layers. In this paper, we present a diagnostic study on a unique Japanese painted paper handscroll (emakimono), dated back between the late Edo (1603-1867) and the early Meiji (1868-1912) periods, preserved at the Museum of the Civilisation- Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum “Luigi Pigorini” in Rome (Italy). The artwork required an urgent restoration and the consolidation of the entire structure. In order to define specific interventions, non-destructive measurements by means of Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS) X-Rays Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) were carried out on the artefact. The results allowed the identification of the colour palette used for tests on the chromaticity and the efficacy of the proper consolidants to employ in the restoration.


Keywords


conservation science; FORS; XRF; pigments; restoration; Japanese handscroll

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2423/i22394303v12n2p119

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Copyright (c) 2023 Sofia Ceccarelli, Martina Redi, Alessandra Terrei, Noemi Orazi, Valeria Guglielmotti, Dariush Hampai, Sultan Dabagov, Fulvio Mercuri

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