Beeswax; Ganosis; Statues; TOF-SIMS; Conservation; Chemistry (miscellaneous); Archeology (arts and humanities); Materials Science (miscellaneous); Economics, Econometrics and Finance (all); Spectroscopy; Computer Science Applications; Archeology; General Economics, Econometrics and Finance
Abstract :
[en] The material evidence for the wax finish on ancient marble statues, known as ganosis, is scarce and controversial, although Greek and Latin sources describe the recipes and cultural value of this treatment. The surface treatment of a colossal Roman head from the Roman theatre of Dougga (Tunisia), dated to the end of the second century CE, is studied by a multi-analytical protocol (video-microscope, cross section, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry of one sample). The results of this physico-chemical analysis and the comparison with ancient recipes, prove the use of ganosis on a Roman statue and explore, for the first time, the application of the recipes described in ancient sources. This result shows the potential of the Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry analysis, detecting at the same time organic and inorganic materials and their stratigraphy, to study the ancient recipes.
Disciplines :
Archaeology
Author, co-author :
Neri, Elisabetta ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Unités de recherche interfacultaires > Art, Archéologie et Patrimoine (AAP)
Bouvier, Caroline ; Sorbonne Université́, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale, Paris, France
de Viguerie, Laurence; Sorbonne Université́, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale, Paris, France
Brunelle, Alain ; Sorbonne Université́, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale, Paris, France
Nasr, Nesrine; Institut National du Patrimoine (INP), Tunis, Tunisia
Béjaoui, Fathi; Institut National du Patrimoine (INP), Tunis, Tunisia
Baratte, François; Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Orient & Méditerranée, Paris, France
Walter, Philippe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Centres généraux > Centre européen en archéométrie ; Sorbonne Université́, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale, Paris, France
Language :
English
Title :
Wax finishing in Roman polychrome statuary: Ganosis on the colossal head from Dougga (Tunisia)
H2020 - 896000 - PolyCRomA - Polychromy: the meaning of Colour in Roman African statues
Funders :
Union Européenne [BE]
Funding text :
The fieldwork for this study was supported by the Coblarcheo program (Paris-Sorbonne: program Convergence 2016 at LAMS laboratory) and in the frame of the project “Corpus des sculptures du Musée du Bardo-Tunis”, headed by Francois Baratte and Fathi Bejaoui. This work was financially supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France, grant ANR-2015-CE29-0007 DEFIMAGE). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement “PolyCRomA: No. 89600 to EN). The funding organisation had no influence in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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