What Vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy can reveal about 15th century illuminated manuscripts: the Corale43 by BeatoAngelico at the BibliotecaMediceaLaurenzianain Florence (Italy)

Ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis) and near infrared (NIR) fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) is a portable, non-invasive, quick and versatile investigative technique for the identification of artists' materials. Since the early 2000s, the heritage communities have showed interest in this emerging technique, which has since been applied to a considerable number of works on paper and parchment in several museums and libraries in Florence and elsewhere [1-3]. The non-invasive nature of FORS is of paramount importance for the analysis of delicate and rare artefacts, such as illuminations on parchment, which mostly cannot be sampled. FORS was therefore selected from the available in situ non-invasive techniques and applied to the identification of the materials used by Beato Angelico, his collaborators and followers in a number of illuminated manuscripts. Guido di Pietro, better known as Beato Angelico or Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (c. 1400-1455), is considered one of the most prominent artists of the 15th century in Italy; he was a versatile artist who excelled in creating illuminations, frescos, as well as panel paintings This work will describe the main results of a multidisciplinary research project, which included a close collaboration between curators and scientists, on the illuminated book Corale 43 (51 cm x 37.2 cm) attributed to Angelico. Corale 43 was made for the convent of San Domenico in Fiesole in the 15th century and, after the Napoleonic suppression of religious orders at the beginning of the 19th century, it was moved to the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence. This study will report, for the first time, on the technical investigations undertaken on the manuscript. In the attempt to place the results within the wider context of the production of illuminations in the 15th century, the technical examination will be compared with other illuminated manuscripts from the same artist, from collaborators, as well as followers. [1] M. Picollo, A. Aldrovandi, A. Migliori, S. Giacomelli, M. Scudieri, Revista de Historia da Arte, serie W, 1, 2011, 219-227. [2] P. Ricciardi, A. Pallipurath and K. Rose, Anal. Methods, 2013, 5, 3819-3824. [3] M. Aceto, A. Agostino, G. Fenoglio, A. Idone, M. Gulmini, M. Picollo, P. Ricciardi, J.K. Delaney, Anal. Methods, 6, 2014, 1488-1500.