DIAGNOSTICS LABORATORY FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE

The course aims to enable students to study and characterise cultural heritage through the use of traditional and state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques, putting into practice the scientific and technological skills acquired in the characterising courses of the degree course. Through practical experiences on objects of historical and cultural interest or the preparation of replicas in the laboratory, the student will have the opportunity to evaluate, study and know the cultural heritage by understanding the processes of degradation, the constituent materials, the relationships with the environment and the products of intervention.

The course aims to develop the student's critical capacity to develop knowledge and diagnostic project on an object, the basic skills to choose the appropriate analysis and to read and understand the cultural heritage in its various aspects. Particular attention will be paid, also through the analysis of scientific articles in the sector, to the critical reading of the diagnostic data collected in relation to the real cognitive needs. Agreements with museums and private individuals guarantee the availability of real works and support the interaction of the course with the territory.

Knowledge and understanding
To know and evaluate on the object the state of conservation, the processes of degradation, and their origin.
To understand the connection between the theoretical aspects of conservation and the cognitive aspect.
To understand which are the possible diagnostic techniques suitable for the study of the object and its degradation processes.
To know the basic principles of the different diagnostic techniques.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding.
Ability to perform a correct analysis of an artwork and its state of conservation.
Ability to draw up and propose a project of diagnostics and valorisation of an artwork.
Ability to select the appropriate diagnostic techniques on the basis of the chemical-physical characteristics of an artwork, of its conservation history, of the diagnostic needs.
Ability to use the theoretical and technical-scientific competences acquired in the characterising courses.
Ability to critically evaluate the operative choices and the most appropriate technologies for the future conservation, monitoring and prevention of the cultural good.

Basic knowledge of inorganic and organic chemistry, chemistry of cultural heritage and art materials, basic diagnostic techniques for the study of cultural heritage. These are contents and theoretical skills that the student regularly enrolled in the course of study has already acquired in the characterising courses of the previous years.

The course will focus on the analysis and study of objects belonging to Cultural Heritage. The students will be divided into groups and, in agreement with the teachers, they will have to draw up a cognitive report concerning the state of preservation, chemical-physical characterisation, proposal of preventive preservation and monitoring. The practical part will be flanked by lectures and in-depth theoretical studies on the diagnostic techniques used and on the critical aspect of reading the data collected and the proposed methods of investigation. The final aim of the course will be to enable students to select suitable diagnostic analyses, to correctly read the data collected, to propose monitoring plans or further analyses aimed at enhancing the value and knowledge of the asset.

Appunti di lezione, dispense e testi relativi alle varie tematiche ed esperienze sono forniti durante il corso. Libri di testo/bibliografia in lingua inglese e italiana sono disponibili in gran parte presso la biblioteca di Area Scientifica (BAS) del Campus di Via Torino (Venezia-Mestre).
Mora P., et al. La conservazione delle pitture murali, Editrice Compositori
Matteini M. et al. La Chimica nel Restauro - I materiali dell’arte pittorica
Campanella L. et al. Chimica per l’arte, Zanichelli
Caneva G. et al. Vol 1: Biodeterioramento e conservazione, Nardini Editore
Montagnana G. I pigmenti: prontuario per l’arte e il restauro, Nardini Editore
Lazzarini L. et al. Il restauro della pietra, Utet Scienze Tecniche
Pinna D., et al. Controllo del degrado biologico, Nardini Editore
Amoroso A., Trattato di conservazione, ALinea Ed.
Derrick M. R. et al. Infrared spectroscopy in conservation science, The Getty Conservation Institute
Matteini M. et al. Scienza e restauro: metodi di indagine, Nardini Editore
M. Ciatti, Appunti per un manuale di storia e teoria del restauro. Dispense per gli studenti, Edifir, Firenze, 2009, pp. 263-408.
R. Marrone, Colore Pigmento Degrado, Youcanprint, Tricase (Le), 2016.
C. Brandi, Theory of restoration, Nardini, Firenze, 2005
Barker, B Des et al., Conservation Science: Heritage Materials. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2006
Artioli G. ; Angelini I., Scientific methods and cultural heritage : an introduction to the application of materials science to archaeometry and conservation science, Oxford : Oxford University press, 2010
Brunetto G. ; Miliani C. ; Sgamellotti A. Science and art : the contemporary painted surface, London : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2020
Sabbatini L. ; van der Werf Inez., Chemical analysis in cultural heritage, Berlin : De Gruyter, 2020
Matteini M et al., Chemistry for restoration : painting and restoration materials, Firenze : Nardini, 2016

The final exam is based on an interview and critical discussion of a report prepared by the students on their practical experiences. At the end of the course, students will be asked to produce a poster presenting their experience.
If the Covid19 health emergency persists, the examination will be done with multiple exams delivered through Moodle and an oral interview through appropriate platforms (e.g. Google Meet).
The oral test is judged by a grade in thirtieths.

Front lectures and laboratory practice with critical group discussion of individual experiences.
If at the time of the course there are still restrictions regarding the Covid19 emergency, the teacher will provide the course through online mode and through direct lessons, recorded videos and experiences prepared ad hoc. The aim is to allow the student to learn the content and to have an active interaction with the teacher.

Italian

The course is taught in Italian, in English in the case of foreign students.
THE STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF THE COURSE MAY CHANGE AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK.

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