Image: At Silvia Russo’s defence
First PhD defense of CHANGE!
Silvia Russo has defended her Phd! Congratulations, Dr. Silvia Russo!
Friday 25th of November 2022, Silvia Russo invited for her public presentation of her PhD work, for both in-person and online attendees. Her work titled “Analysis and assessment of degradation of polychrome metal artefacts” had already been defended through a private defense with the PhD committee and now a broader public could learn about her work.
Her work is focused on the use of non-destructive imaging techniques to investigate degradation due to the formation of metal soaps on painted metals. This class of cultural heritage objects largely refers to artworks made of metal support painted by artists using a range of industrial and homemade formulations. Specifically, in this work, oil-based formulations were considered. Objects made in this manner can be found in the 15th – 16th century (e.g., miniature portraits), 18th – 19th centuries (e.g., technical objects), and 20th centuries (e.g., sculptures and paintings on copper and aluminium).
In particular, imaging techniques allow for the monitoring of the chemical process occurring at the metal-oil interface since they provide spatial information together with spectral data that can be used to locate the same area of interest repeatedly over time and, therefore, to monitor the evolution of the species investigated on the same region of the sample.
The understanding of the effect of different variables on the system, and the study of the early stage of the degradation is fundamental in the design of appropriate preventive conservation strategies.