Non-invasive techniques applied to the alchemical codex of the State Archive of Florence

Giovanni Bartolozzi; Susanna Bracci; Emma Cantisani; Roberta Iannaccone; Donata Magrini; Marcello Picollo

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2020.118562

Non-invasive techniques applied to the alchemical codex of the State Archive of Florence

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2020 Oct 15:240:118562. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118562. Epub 2020 May 30.

Authors

Giovanni Bartolozzi¹, Susanna Bracci², Emma Cantisani³, Roberta Iannaccone⁴, Donata Magrini⁵, Marcello Picollo⁶

Affiliations

¹ "Nello Carrara" Institute of Applied Physics-National Council of Research, Via Madonna del Piano, 10, 50019 Florence, Italy. Electronic address: g.bartolozzi@ifac.cnr.it.
² Institute of Heritage Science - National Council of Research, Via Madonna del Piano, 10, 50019 Florence, Italy. Electronic address: susanna.bracci@cnr.it.
³ Institute of Heritage Science - National Council of Research, Via Madonna del Piano, 10, 50019 Florence, Italy. Electronic address: emma.cantisani@cnr.it.
⁴ University of Sassari, Chemistry and Pharmacy Department, Italy. Electronic address: riannaccone@uniss.it.
⁵ Institute of Heritage Science - National Council of Research, Via Madonna del Piano, 10, 50019 Florence, Italy. Electronic address: donata.magrini@cnr.it.
⁶ "Nello Carrara" Institute of Applied Physics-National Council of Research, Via Madonna del Piano, 10, 50019 Florence, Italy. Electronic address: m.picollo@ifac.cnr.it.

PMID: 32526393
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118562

Abstract

This paper focuses on the application of non-invasive techniques to study a peculiar object, an alchemical codex completely made of lead stored at the State Archive of Florence.¹ The sheets of the codex appeared entirely covered by thick and heterogeneous corrosion patinas for which a restoration was planned for their removal. This activity was supported by analytical investigations to characterise the materials that made up the patinas using non-invasive techniques. The codex pages were initially documented with imaging techniques. Subsequently, spectroscopic data were acquired on each sheet using spot analytical techniques: Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (TR FT-IR), Fibre Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The identification of deterioration compounds has been extremely useful for the conservator to deal with the removal of dangerous and disfiguring patinas.

Keywords: Alchemical codex; Conservation; Degradation; Lead; Non-invasive analyses.