The forger's identikit: A multi-technique characterization of Pippo Oriani's fake paintings

This work is part of a multi-disciplinary study aimed at creating the first scientific database to support the future authentication of paintings on the art market. In particular, five fake paintings attributed to the Italian painter Pippo Oriani (1909-1972) have been characterized. Since no scientific literature concerning the material composition used by the artist is available, the five paintings were studied with a multi-technique approach aiming at better understanding the forgery process. The obtained results can be used in the future as a first step to support the authentication of Oriani's artworks on the art market. In particular, it allows to evaluate the con-sistency of data obtained from future scientific investigations on Oriani's artwork with the forgery process re-ported in the present database. Non-invasive diagnostic tools, such as UV imaging, IR and IR-false colour photography, XRF, mu-Raman and FTIR spectroscopies have been used to fully characterize the fake paintings. The combination of these techniques led to obtaining useful information on the support preparation method, the pictorial materials, and the execution technique of the artist/forger(s).A wide range of inorganic pigments and organic dyes have been detected, together with the use of oil and wax as binders. The results revealed a strong similarity among the different paintings, thus supporting the idea that the forger(s) knew very well the original Oriani's pictorial technique.The detailed identification of all the materials used in the forgery process for Oriani's fake paintings will help to support the authentication of other ambiguous paintings in future cases

The contribution of iot to the implementation of preventive conservation according to european standards: The case study of the “cannone” violin and its historical copy

One of the main goals of preventive conservation (PC) is to reduce the risk of possible damage produced by the interaction between tangible heritage objects and their conservation environments. This work aims to introduce the European standard EN 15757:2010 as a potential tool for implementing effective museum PC, and it details the potential contributions of both active environmental control and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in this regard. An application of this strategy is proposed by means of a case study of the conservation of two historical violins, part of a small but significant museum collection in the City of Genoa dedicated to Paganini, whose value is inestimable. According to the standard, monitoring of environmental parameters was carried out for more than four years in the Paganini Hall of Palazzo Doria-Tursi Museum. A remote-control system was implemented, installing digital sensors in the room and in the two showcases. The data were continuously collected through an integrated platform for supervision, monitoring and shared management, based on web-cloud-IoT technology. The analysis of climate data and the assessment of the “historic climate” led to the installation of an active control system on the display cases of the “Cannone” violin and its historical copy. The intervention resulted in a cost-effective improvement in the conservation conditions of the two objects, with an efficient system of warning and safety alarms and a protocol of resolution actions still active and ongoing. The application of IoT systems in monitoring and controlling the indoor climate of heritage collections facilitated the care of the objects at a cost reduction for the institution