Considerations about polychromy on a group of Nenfro sculptures coming from Tuscania (Viterbo) stored in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence (MAF)

The hellenistic sculptures described in this presentation are part of a group of archaeological findings coming from Tuscania (Viterbo), stored in the MAF (Archaeological Museum of Florence). At the end of 19th and early 20th century, Luigi Adriano Milani, Director of the Royal Archaeological Museum of Florence, started an acquisition program aimed to increasing the Topographical Museum of Etruria's collection. During this period, the Director met Giuseppe Cerasa, Honorary Inspector of Monuments and Excavations for "Toscanella" (modern Tuscania), Arlena and Cellere. Cerasa allowed the acquisition of several groups of artefacts coming from Tuscania's area (pottery, bronze and glass objects, stone and terracotta sculptures and sarcophagi). At the beginning the objects were partly shown in the Tuscanienses-Ferentani museum room, in the Garden of the MAF, and partly stored. On November 4th, 1966 a flood heavily damaged the museum and its collections, causing the dismemberment of many contexts, including those from Tuscania. These artefacts, after the disaster, were cleaned, restored and - most of them - moved into the depository of the MAF and to Villa Corsini, where they are currently preserved. The work started from this state of art, searching for information about the objects and their original context. In particular, some stone sculptures are very interesting from the polychromy point of view; five sarcophagi found in two internally connected tombs, belonging to Statlane gens (Rosavecchia necropolis), used for a very long period, from the end of IV century until I century B.C., were analyzed during a previous collaboration between ICVBC and the MAF. From the same tombs a funerary lion, probably originally located out of the structure, and a lid with banqueting lying figure, have been chosen in this case in order to search for their original polychromy, at first sight largely disappeared. The same analytical protocol have been carried out for other important funerary monuments coming from similar and contemporary tombs discovered in Tuscania and preserved in the MAF: a beautiful sarcophagus with decorated case and young male lying figure, banqueting on the lid, coming from Vipinana Tomb (Carcarello necropolis), and two unusual human figured statues, perhaps ash containers. The sculptures were analysed by means of transportable and totally non-invasive techniques. The analyses were performed using imaging techniques (Ultraviolet fluorescence photography, Visible photography, Visible Induced Luminescence) and single spot techniques (X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-VIS Fibre Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy and total reflectance IR spectroscopy). In addition, a portable digital optical microscopy was used for documenting the analysed areas and to obtain detail of the polychromy traces at higher magnification. The comparison of the obtained analytical results joined with the archaeological studies, has provided new information about sculptures, their conservation state and the artistic technique. In addition, these data are extremely useful to gain new information to deepen the knowledge about this archaeological artefacts.