A multidisciplinary materials characterization of a Joannes Marcus viol (16(th) century)

Results: At first, UV fluorescence examination and reflectographic analysis have been performed on the different fragments in order to characterize, respectively, the distribution of varnishes and glues on the surface and to select the areas treated with metal-gall inks that result transparent by long wave IR reflectographic technique. The materials were therefore characterized with X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) microanalyses and Micro-Infrared Spectroscopy (mu FT-IR) techniques. In particular, the metallic elements present in the dyes where revealed through XRF and SEM-EDX, while mu FT-IR gave details about organic binders. Elemental compositions obtained for the black decorations allowed to distinguish original parts of the fragments from those restored or remade.

Background: Several musical instruments in the past centuries were decorated with engravings, inlays, or paintings. This paper focuses on an integrated approach to detect and characterize the kind of dyes when used for the decorations. The multi analytical campaign was performed on a viol made by Joannes Marcus in the second half of the 16(th) century. The instrument has been shattered during World War II, and the fragments are now held in Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan; they still conserve the original black and white purflings and the painted decorations. The study is of critical importance since Joannes Marcus worked in the sixteenth century and, in this very period, some executive features were introduced in musical instrument making, which are now veritable standards for this kind of instruments.