Upgrade of the x-ray imaging set-up at CCR “La Venaria Reale”: the case study of an Egyptian wooden statuette

9X-ray based imaging techniques (digital radiography and computed tomography) are widely used in the field of Cultural Heritage and beyond, above all thanks to their non-invasiveness. The high penetrating power of X-rays allows us to investigate the internal structure of the analysed objects, thus obtaining valuable information related to the history of artistic and archaeological finds. In particular, CT provides data that are more significant when objects with a not negligible volume are studied. Even the use of advanced instruments can help having better final data from which getting more information. In this paper, we will show the case study of an Ancient Egyptian wooden statuette representing a “bearer”, for which an upgraded version of the X-ray imagingapparatus located in the Centro Conservazione e Restauro “La Venaria Reale” (CCR) was used for the first time. Thanks to this, much information on the technique of execution was obtained, especially from the tomographic analysis.openopenL. Vigorelli; A. Lo Giudice; T. Cavaleri; P. Buscaglia; M. Nervo; P. Del Vesco; M. Borla; S. Grassini; A. ReVigorelli, L.; Lo Giudice, A.; Cavaleri, T.; Buscaglia, P.; Nervo, M.; Del Vesco, P.; Borla, M.; Grassini, S.; Re, A

3D INTERPRETATION AND FUSION OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY DATA FOR HERITAGE SCIENCE: A REVIEW

Activities related to the protection of tangible heritage require extensive multidisciplinary documentation. The various raw data that occur have been oftentimes been processed, visualized and evaluated separately leading to aggregations of unassociated information of varying data types. In the direction of adopting complete approaches towards more effective decision making, the interpretation and fusion of these data in three dimensions, inserting topological information is deemed necessary. The present study addresses the achieved level of three-dimensional interpretation and fusion with geometric models of data originating from different fields, by providing an extensive review of the relevant literature. Additionally, it briefly discusses perspectives on techniques that could potentially be integrated with point clouds or models

X-ray Imaging Investigation on the Gilding Technique of an Ancient Egyptian Taweret Wooden Statuette

Diagnostic physical methods are increasingly applied to Cultural Heritage both for scientific investigations and conservation purposes. In particular, the X-ray imaging techniques of computed tomography (CT) and digital radiography (DR) are non-destructive investigation methods to study an object, being able to give information on its inner structure. In this paper, we present the results of the X-ray imaging study on an ancient Egyptian statuette (Late Period 722–30 BCE) belonging to the collection of Museo Egizio in Torino and representing an Egyptian goddess called Taweret, carved on wood and gilded with some colored details. Since few specific studies have been focused on materials and techniques used in Ancient Egypt for gilding, a detailed investigation was started in order to verify the technical features of the decoration in this sculpture. Specifically, DR and CT analyses have been performed at the Centro Conservazione e Restauro “La Venaria Reale” (CCR), with a new high resolution flat-panel detector, that allowed us to perform tomographic analysis reaching a final resolution better than the one achievable with the previous apparatus operating in the CCR

Aiding the conservation of two wooden Buddhist sculptures with 3D imaging and spectroscopic techniques

The conservation of Buddhist sculptures that were transferred to Europe at some point during their lifetime raises numerous questions: while these objects historically served a religious, devotional purpose, many of them currently belong to museums or private collections, where they are detached from their original context and often adapted to western taste. A scientific study was carried out to address questions from Museo d'Arte Orientale of Turin curators in terms of whether these artifacts might be forgeries or replicas, and how they may have transformed over time. Several analytical techniques were used for materials identification and to study the production technique, ultimately aiming to discriminate the original materials from those added within later interventions