Towards digital reconstruction of lost signs borne by heritage artefacts using chemical imaging: the case of 16th-c. violins and luthiers' tools
Résumé
Many artefacts from the past may have borne signs (writings, monograms, emblems, etc.), which may be related to their initial appreance, the context of their creation, or later events, owners, etc. A key issue the loss of readability of these signs, which are of great importance to historians, scholars, conservators, and museum curators, who are contributing to refine the knowledge and heritage values of these artefacts. This loss of readibility may be due, among others, to overcoatings, to material loss by abrasion, or the alteration of the materials themselves, leading to their discoloration, fading, etc. Exemplary case studies can be found in the French national collection of the musée de la Musique in Paris : violins by Andrea Amati (Cremona, second half of the 16th-c.), bearing remains of painted royal emblems (Habsburg and Valois families) and wooden forms for making instruments from the workshop of Antonio Stradivari (Cremona, 17th-18th-c.), bearing traces of ink writings. This paper will present how X-ray fluorescence spectroscopic mapping, a chemical imaging technique allowed was used (i) to digitally reconstruct the emblems designs on the Amati violins, and thus provide information on dating and early context of uses of these instruments; (ii) to improve the readability and attribution of the writings on the Stradivari wooden forms.