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Nuclear techniques applied to provenance and technological studies of Renaissance majolica roundels from Portuguese museums attributed to della Robbia Italian workshop

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Abstract

Artistic and historical examination of high-quality glazed terracotta sculptures displayed in various Portuguese museums point to their production in della Robbia workshop of Florence (Italy). A multitechnique analytical approach is applied for the first time to these sculptures, aiming to confirm their origin. Materials were analyzed using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis and X-ray Diffraction. The compositional results are similar to other della Robbia sculptures, suggesting a common origin for the raw material that was identified as carbonate rich marine origin marly clay. The applied firing temperatures was proved to be around 900 °C. The differences found within each sculpture are explained by the production technique of assembling separate parts to produce these huge sculptures, and the clay pit heterogeneity.

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Acknowledgements

C2TN/IST authors gratefully acknowledge the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) support through the UID/Multi/04349/2013 project and to the staff of the Portuguese Research Reactor (RPI) of CTN/IST for their assistance with the neutron irradiations. Special thanks also to the Portuguese FCT research funded in the frame of the project PTDC/HIS/HEC/116742/2010, and to the CHARISMA funded (Grant Agreement no. 228330) project at the Budapest Neutron Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares– C2TN, Instituto Superior Técnico, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Polo de Loures, Estrada Nacional 10, km 139,7, 2696-066, Bobadela LRS, Portugal

    M. I. Dias & M. I. Prudêncio

  2. Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Zsolt Kasztovszky, Boglárka Maróti & Ildikó Harsányi

  3. Univ. Aberta/Inst.História Arte da Fac, Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Univ. Nova De Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    P. Flor

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  1. M. I. Dias
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  2. M. I. Prudêncio
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  3. Zsolt Kasztovszky
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  4. Boglárka Maróti
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  5. Ildikó Harsányi
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  6. P. Flor
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Correspondence to M. I. Dias.

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Dias, M.I., Prudêncio, M.I., Kasztovszky, Z. et al. Nuclear techniques applied to provenance and technological studies of Renaissance majolica roundels from Portuguese museums attributed to della Robbia Italian workshop. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 312, 205–219 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5235-9

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