Multidisciplinary analyses on the 11th-12th century bronze doors of San Marco, Venice

PLoS One. 2023 Jul 13;18(7):e0288094. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288094. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Two 11th- and 12th-century entrance doors from the Basilica di San Marco in Venice, made of different copper alloys and woods, were non-invasively examined in situ. The chemical composition of the metals, the way in which different metal parts were joined together, the tree species used to construct the supporting structures and the age of the wood are determined. A portable ED-XRF instrument and optical microscopes were used. The doors were also photographed to produce high-resolution orthophotos and 3D models. The metal parts of the doors were made of leaded tin-bronze and quaternary Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb alloys and were mounted on a wooden multi-layer structure of larch and silver fir; the dendrochronological dates of some of the larch boards are 1965, teminus post quem.

MeSH terms

  • Alloys / chemistry
  • Copper / chemistry
  • Metals* / analysis
  • Microscopy

Substances

  • Alloys
  • Copper
  • Metals

Grants and funding

This project was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project no. P-34477-G (“Gates to Paradise: Creating metal doors for 11th-12th century churches”; head of project: Marianne Mödlinger). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There has been no additional external funding received for this study.