Historical and precious ecclesiastical artefacts in Sicily from the 12th to the 19th century: non-invasive gemological analyses (2025)

Marilisa Spironello

2024, The 6th InART2024 Conference – Book of Abstracts, p.139

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The corpus of ecclesiastical artistic heritage is represented by different types of liturgical furnishings, such as monstrances, chalices, pyxes, but also jewelry and ex-votos. The chronological span related to them, is very broad and covers the centuries between the 12th and 19th centuries. These are very precious objects currently exhibited in numerous Diocesan Museums and Museums of Sacred Art, which stand out in the field for their collections of high historical and cultural value. These objects display exquisite finishes, refined decorations and the presence of precious gems set into the surface, which gives them an inestimable value. But are these works really valuable, apart from their devotional value and historical testimony? Are the records that have come down to us and the stated information on the gemological repertoire, really reliable? Traditional techniques and autopsy observations do not allow for the analysis or classification of set gems, whilst scientific studies are rarely carried out. In contrast, specific studies with non-invasive portable instruments would allow these works to be studied directly in situ. In particular, thanks to a combined in situ approach involving portable Raman spectroscopy (with an excitation wavelength of 785 nm) and portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF), it was possible to confirm the identifications of gems [1] present on some important artefacts from the Treasure of Palermo Cathedral and the Diocesan Museum of Monreale (Italy). The series of objects investigated includes liturgical furnishings of various kinds: reliquaries, chalices, monstrances, ciboria, patens, statues, vases and paci of Sicilian manufacture, especially from Palermo, Spain, Lombardy and Rome, dating from the 12th century to the first half of the 19th century [2]. In addition, an ornament called “La gioia del Santo Costato” by goldsmith Francesco Burgarello, dating from before 1782, has also been extensively analysed. In the inventories of Palermo Cathedral from 1848 and 1898, the work is recorded as “a joy of the Holy Rib of the Crucifix” and is described as “set on gilded silver” and decorated with “number three hundred diamonds [...]” [3]. The central red gemstone was the most important object of investigation, as was the presence of numerous colourless gems set in the surrounding radius. The object follows a type of traditional Sicilian production of late Baroque derivation in vogue, especially in the 18th century. The gems mentioned must have been rubies and diamonds.

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Fabrizio Antonelli

Journal of Cultural Heritage, 2003

An archaeometric study of the ornamental stones in the interior of the baroque church of San Pietro in Valle (Fano) has been carried out. On the basis of mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical studies, the areas of quarrying of 44 lithotypes are firstly established and a complete database of the location of the decorative marbles in the church was also provided. Both marbles from the Mediterranean region, used in the Roman and Byzantine period, and stones more typically found in baroque buildings were widely employed. Among the ornamental stones of local (Italian) provenance, a large number of lithotypes from the neighbourhood of Verona (Veneto Region, northern Italy) has been found. It is worthnoting that a fundamental role in choosing several marbles from Verona was played by Abbot Domenico Federici who arrived in Fano after he had been appointed secretary to the imperial embassy in Venice. Petrographic descriptions have been provided for Breccia di Brentonico, Lumachella di S.Vitale, Astracane di Verona and Nero Nube Conchigliato, which are four ornamental stones (never described in detail elsewhere) extensively quarried in the Venetian region. An isotope geochemistry study of the white marbles (Marmor Proconnesium and Marmor Lunense) has also been carried out. Most of the ornamental stones show severe and different forms of decay, and therefore, conservation work is strongly urged. Crystallisation of salts in the pores of the rocks is the main cause of the decay shown by most of the lithotypes. The soluble salts largely originate from (i) the rising damp which affects the outer walls of the church and subordinately from (ii) inappropriate works undertaken at the beginning of the 20th century when numerous marble slabs were re-attached with gypsum grouts. The high levels of relative humidity inside the church are not consistent with the most suitable conditions for the conservation of wall paintings and decorative stones.

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Historical and precious ecclesiastical artefacts in Sicily from the 12th to the 19th century: non-invasive gemological analyses (2025)
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