Foglie d’oro con finiture a olio dal Medioevo al Rinascimento.

Acronym: FOLIA³

Description

The project starts from a research question raised by the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena concerning the use of gold leaf and related finishing techniques in panel paintings dating from the 13th to the 15th century. The project focuses on the material characterisation of the artworks through the application of non-destructive analytical techniques, with particular attention to gaining a deeper understanding of their technical execution.

The project partners are the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and the Department of Historical Sciences and Cultural Heritage of the University of Siena. Their collaborative approach combines expertise in art history, science, and conservation science.

The exceptional collaboration established within FOLIA³ represents a unique opportunity to deepen the material studies of the artworks and makes a distinctive contribution to the renewal of the museum’s art-historical catalogue. The interdisciplinary investigative approach combines multi- and hyperspectral imaging techniques, X-ray fluorescence, and molecular spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (MIR) range. Another challenge of the project is the use of clustering techniques to identify the material characteristics of the artworks, alongside agentic AI to support interpreting of the analytical results obtained on different case studies.