Science for Conservation

Cellulose pulp, mainly utilized as a support for cleaning stone material, in this study, is proposed as a filler for wooden supports. In the last 10 years, pulp has been used in many restoration works carried out in the laboratory of the Diocesan Museum (MDP) in Palermo, including both wooden sculptures and panel paintings. These artworks, exhibited in the MDP, are constantly monitored in order to evaluate the effectiveness of cellulose pulp as a filler, assessing its durability and bio-receptivity. In particular, struc-tural characteristics, drying time, shrinkage, loss in weight, affinity to the pigments, etc., were simultaneously evaluated. Tests were also carried out on artificially aged cellulose pulp samples, in order to appraise if cellulose could be a source of nourish-ment for microbial growth.

This paper presents the first study on Rodovetri, animation cels produced between the 1950s and the 1970s
for the Italian television and conserved at the Museum of Industry and Labour “Musil” (Italy). Although
these cels are considered as works of art and witnesses of Italian animation design, they have never been
studied before. The study of one of the most endangered cel groups of the Musil collection is presented
here. The main aims were to investigate the composition of these animation cels, to identify the materials
used for painting the characters, and to assess the state of conservation of the cels. The results, which
were obtained by means of a multi-analytical non-invasive and micro-destructive approach, underline
the composition of the plastic substrate as nitrocellulose, while the painted layers – which contain a
variety of pigments and dyes – were found to be bound with a mixture of plant gum and animal glue. This
study also provides information on their state of conservation, in particular in relation to the de-nitration
of plastic sheets. Important issues on the preventive conservation are also raised.

In the documentation in conservation context, there is an increasing demand for precise and accurate data and also for full three dimensional records of the cultural heritage. This paper presents the study case of a painting by Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso before, during and after
the retouching treatment. The work focuses on the use of open source systems, such as GIS and photogrammetry software, in order to produce accurate maps of object losses and realistic virtual 3D models enabling the study of artworks with a minimum budget and a low cost infrastructure.