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Toward an assessment of cleaning treatments onto nineteenth–twentieth-century photographs by using a multi-analytic approach

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Abstract

The application of cleaning treatments for the restoration of nineteenth–twentieth-century photographs represents an innovative and still little explored aspect. In this work, in order to remove the degradation products, two cleaning methods were used for two different photographic techniques: poly(vinyl alcohol)-based hydrogels were applied to clean an albumen-based print, while calcium chlorine was used to remove the silver mirroring effect on a gelatin silver print. The constituent materials and conservation state of the analyzed photographs were characterized using a multi-analytical approach: imaging analyses (UV–VIS-NIR), attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectroscopy, macro-X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF) spectroscopy, pH analyses and particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) were applied before and after the cleaning treatments. The two treatments have permitted of the recovery the degraded parts of the two photos, especially in the first study case. For the silver mirroring effect, further treatments will be required to obtain a complete removal of the effect.

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Data Availability Statement

All data discussed in this work are available by sending an email to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

Parts of this work were carried out during the bachelor degree of A.D "Analisi spettroscopiche su materiale fotografico: Caratterizzazione di materiale fotografico risalente al secolo scorso e messa a punto di metodi idonei di pulitura". Thanks to C.G for the possibility to analyze the Sample 2 from her private collection. Thanks to A.R, A.G, M.P of DAFNE-Light Synchrotron Radiation Facility of INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati for their technical support to the experiments. Thanks to prof. G.P and Dr F.D for suggestions in hydrogels preparation. All the INFN activities related to Cultural Heritage were realized in the field of INFN-Cultural Heritage Network (CHNet).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 54, 00044, Frascati (RM), Italy

    M. Romani, L. Pronti, G. Viviani, M. Angelucci & M. Cestelli-Guidi

  2. Department of Chemical Science and Technologies, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133, Rome, Italy

    L. Severini & C. Mazzuca

  3. INFN-Sezione di Firenze, Via Bruno Rossi 1, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy

    C. Ruberto, A. Mazzinghi, M. Chiari, L. Castelli & F. Taccetti

  4. Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via G. Sansone 1, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy

    C. Ruberto & A. Mazzinghi

  5. Guest Student at INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 54, 00044, Frascati (RM), Italy

    A. Damiani

  6. Freelance Restorer, Rome (RM), Italy

    C. Gorga

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  1. M. Romani
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Contributions

M.R., L.P., C.R., M.C.G. and C.M. contributed to conceptualization; M.R., L.P., C.R., M.C.G., C.M. and L.S. contributed to methodology; A.D., M.R., L.P., C.R., A.M., L.S., M.C., L.C. and G.V. performed investigation; M.C.G, F.T., M. A. and C.M. provided resources; M.R., L.P., C.R., A.M., L.S., M.C., L.C., A.D and C.M. contributed to data curation and data analyses; M.R. performed writing—original draft preparation; M.R., L.P., C.R, A.M., C.M., M.C., L.C. and M.C.G. performed writing—review and editing; M.R., L.P., M.C.G., C.G, M. A. and C.M. performed review and supervision. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to L. Pronti.

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Romani, M., Pronti, L., Ruberto, C. et al. Toward an assessment of cleaning treatments onto nineteenth–twentieth-century photographs by using a multi-analytic approach. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 137, 757 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-02948-5

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