The impact of alkaline treatments on elasticity in spruce tonewood.

It is commonly believed that violins sound differently when finished. However, if the role of varnishes on the vibrational properties of these musical instruments is well-established, how the first components of the complete wood finish impact on the final result is still unclear. According to tradition, the priming process consists of two distinct stages, called pre-treatment and sizing. The literature reports some recipes used by old Cremonese luthiers as primers, mainly based on alkaline aqueous solutions and protein-based glues. In this manuscript, we analyze the impact of these treatments on the mechanical properties of the material. The combination of two pre-treatments and three sizes is considered on nine different plates. We compare the vibrational properties before and after the application and assess the effects of the different primers, also supported by finite element modeling. The main outcome is that the combination of particular treatments on the violin surface before varnishing leads to changes not only to the wood appearance, but also to its vibrational properties. Indeed pre-treatments, often considered negligible in terms of vibrational changes, enhance the penetration of the size into the wood structure and strengthen the impact of the latter on the final rigidity of the material along the longitudinal and radial directions.

Study of a surface coating present on a Renaissance Piety from the Museum of Ancient Art (Castello Sforzesco, Milan).

The surface coating present on a marble Piety dating to the Renaissance period and stored at the Castello Sforzesco-Museum of Ancient Art (Milan, Italy) was studied and chemically characterised. For this purpose, both portable non-invasive (XRF and colorimetric measurements) and micro-invasive techniques (FTIR-ATR and SEM-EDS), have been applied. The statue has been recently submitted to a restoration, since its surface appeared dark and yellowed, before an exhibition at the Louvre Museum and the original appearance of the marble surface recovered thanks to the surface coating removal. Through the analytical characterisation carried out before and after the marble cleaning, the presence of a degradation layer composed by gypsum was evidenced on the stone. The origin of this layer is ascribable to the exposure of the statue to outdoor environment and interaction with atmospheric pollution. The chemical nature of the coating applied at the end of nineteenth century also responsible for the surface alteration was hypothesized.

Reflection FTIR spectroscopy for the study of historical bowed string instruments: Invasive and non-invasive approaches.

A micro-sample detached from a historical bowed string instrument represents a valuable record of the materials used by the great Masters of violin-making art. It allows researchers to collect a wealth of information and to disclose - at least partially - their procedures for finishing and varnishing. In the present work, a set of four cross-sectioned micro-samples - collected from well-preserved bowed string instruments made by Antonio Stradivari and Lorenzo Storioni - are investigated by Synchrotron Radiation (SR) FTIR micro-spectroscopy in reflection mode. SR-FTIR spectra are discussed both as point analysis and as univariate and multivariate chemical maps. The same cross-sections are also investigated by optical microscopy under UV light and SEM-EDX. Moreover, data obtained directly from the musical instruments by a non-invasive approach employing a portable reflection FTIR spectrometer are also considered. FTIR investigation of the cross-sections is a challenging task for such brittle and complex layered micro-samples. Nevertheless, the high intensity of the analytical SR beam used in reflection geometry allowed us to obtain informative FTIR spectra and to fully preserve the integrity of the samples. Both the non-invasive and the micro-invasive reflection FTIR approaches can reveal the materials spread on the wood surface to finish the musical instruments. The fingerprint of Lorenzo Storioni's production around 1790 emerged from the study of the cross-sectioned samples, definitely different from the technique of Stradivari.