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Glass artefacts conservation: finding materials and methods for glass vessels’ reconstruction

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Abstract

This paper will address art glass conservation, focusing on the search for the best products and methods to be employed in glass vessels’ reconstruction, including case studies. In 2000, an archaeological site was found in Padua (Northern Italy) where the Santa Chiara in Cella Nova Monastery once stood (1325–1797), and thousands of Renaissance artefacts came to light. Thanks to a collaboration between the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per l’Area Metropolitana di Venezia e le Province di Belluno, Padova e Treviso and the University of Bologna, a huge conservative project started. The conservative intervention on the precious glass vessels became the starting point of a research on the best products to be employed in their reconstruction. More than for other materials, an analytical approach is necessary while dealing with glass: commonly employed techniques need to be adapted to suit features of every object, and new ones must be examined. Furthermore, testing and comparing well known products to most recent ones or to ones developed for other purposes is essential. In this study, an acrylic resin and four epoxy resins were tested, the latter both pure and added with three different colouring agents. Accelerated ageing tests were run to find out the products most resistant to discolouration through time. The results were compared with practical application’s tests to select the best combination of products and techniques. Finally, the intervention on two glass vessels, coming from Santa Chiara Monastery, is presented briefly.

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Data Availability Statement

This manuscript has associated data in a data repository. [Authors’ comment: Access to all data mentioned in this paper can be requested from the corresponding author].

Notes

  1. Then Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Veneto, now Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per l’Area Metropolitana di Venezia e le Province di Belluno, Padova e Treviso.

  2. Restituzioni, Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Vicenza (Italy), 2002.

    Restituzioni, Gallerie d’Italia, Milano (Italy), 2016.

    Le memorie ritrovate, Noventa di Piave, Venice (Italy) 2011, and Este, Padua (Italy), 2012,

    Èmailler le verre à la Renaissance, Musèe National de la Renaissance Château d’Ècouen, Paris (France), 2021–2022.

  3. Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per l’Area Metropolitana di Venezia e le Province di Belluno, Padova e Treviso.

  4. Also known as Acryloids® (USA).

  5. https://www.siltea.eu/prodotto-siox-5-re20c/.

  6. Primal AC-33 in demineralized water and/or Paraloid B-72 in acetone, ad different percentages.

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Aknowledgments

Authors want to thank the Soprintendenza ABAP per l’Area Metropolitana di Venezia e le Province di Belluno, Padova e Treviso, especially the Conservator Sara Emanuele, for the opportunity to work on the conservation of the precious Santa Chiara in Cella Nova glass artefacts. We also thank the Department of Cultural Heritage and the Department of Industrial Chemistry of the University of Bologna for the possibility of carrying out this research. Finally, we would like to thank Doctor Cristina Tonini, for her precious help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kriterion s.n.c., Castenaso, Bologna, Italy

    Elena Betti & Silvia Ferucci

  2. Department of Cultural Heritage, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Silvia Ferucci, Cristina Chiavari & Mariangela Vandini

  3. Department of Industrial Chemistry, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Elena Bernardi

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  1. Elena Betti
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Correspondence to Elena Betti.

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Betti, E., Ferucci, S., Bernardi, E. et al. Glass artefacts conservation: finding materials and methods for glass vessels’ reconstruction. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 139, 20 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04776-7

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