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Advances in materials and technological characterization of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise

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Abstract

A micro-core sample taken from the panel “The histories of Joseph” of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise bas-relief was fully investigated during the last restoration in the eighties of the twentieth century. Recently, the systematic analysis via field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) of the whole surface of this micro-sample allowed to well understand the artwork conservation state. Moreover, the modern advanced analytical technique allowed to find and localize two AuCu- and AuCu3-ordered phases due to diffusion phenomena, highlighted for the first time in an ancient artefact in gilt bronze exposed outdoors. Considerations on the thermodynamic stability of these ordered phases, along with estimation of reasonable diffusion coefficient values, seem to support K. Anheuser’s hypothesis on the fire-gilding manufacturing technique that the final step is a thermal treatment of a few minutes, conducted at a temperature certainly below 400 °C and with estimated values between 250 and 300 °C.

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Fig. 1

taken from 9B position. Panel dimensions are around (80 × 80) cm2

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Notes

  1. This micro-sample from the panel “The histories of Joseph” had been chosen in 1981 by a team of specialists as representative of the state of conservation of the Doors. Similarly, this micro-core sample could be considered fairly representative of the gilding manufacturing conditions practiced for the whole bas-relief, carried out by Lorenzo and Vittore Ghiberti in a single final operation, completed in a very short period (3 months) [41, 42].

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Acknowledgements

One of the authors (Emilio Mello) wishes to thank Kilian Anheuser for valuable discussion on some practical and characterization aspects of fire-gilding techniques. We also thanks prof. Mauro Parodi, University of Genova, for the fruitful discussion on Fick’s second law.

Funding

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBIS, Fondazione Novara Sviluppo, via G. Bovio 6, 28100, Novara, Italy

    Emilio Mello

  2. Eni S.p.A., R&D, Via Felice Maritano 26, 20097, San Donato Milanese, MI, Italy

    Eleonora Di Paola

  3. Eni S.p.A., DE-R&D, via G. Fauser 4, 28100, Novara, Italy

    Gianluigi Marra & Mario Salvalaggio

Authors
  1. Emilio Mello
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  2. Eleonora Di Paola
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  3. Gianluigi Marra
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  4. Mario Salvalaggio
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Contributions

E. Mello proposed the further structural investigation on the artwork sample he provided. All authors discussed the proposed work and contributed to the study design. FESEM collection and analysis were performed by E. Di Paola, and results were discussed with the other authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by E. Mello and E. Di Paola, and all authors revised critically and commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read, contributed and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mario Salvalaggio.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Not applicable.

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Mello, E., Di Paola, E., Marra, G. et al. Advances in materials and technological characterization of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 136, 861 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01851-9

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