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New insights on the painting “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi”: a preliminary analytical study of Mario Nuzzi’s pictorial production and of his artistic collaborations

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Abstract

The study and characterization of an art work carried out by two or more artists is always an interesting challenge since each painter, although belonging to the same artistic current, can introduce specific pictorial materials or peculiar aesthetic effects, which constitute the artist fingerprint. This work presents a preliminary analytical study of the “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi”, painted by Giovanni Maria Morandi and Mario Nuzzi. In particular, non-invasive investigations were conducted using UV–VIS–NIR–SWIR multispectral imaging, radiography and X-ray spectroscopy (XRF). Multivariate analyses (PCA) were performed on VIS–NIR multispectral imaging in order to highlight some details not clearly visible using a traditional univariate analysis. Such an approach could be useful for authentication processes. In particular, in this paper we propose the use of the score density plot to determine the artist’s “chiaroscuro” fingerprint. Finally, the artist’s palette was compared with that of the “Primavera” painting, painted by Mario Nuzzi and Filippo Lauri, by using XRF analyses. We discovered that “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi” has not been significantly changed since the final version. Furthermore, the elemental composition of the pigments revealed that the palette used in the two paintings does not completely overlap. This aspect encourages us to perform a more detailed analysis of the pigments with the aim of better discriminating the parts painted by Mario Nuzzi from those of each collaborator.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the funding of Regione Lazio under the ADAMO Project No. B86C18001220002 of the Centre of Excellence at the Technological District for Cultural Heritage of Lazio (DTC). The authors want to acknowledge all the staff of Palazzo Chigi for their support during the measurement campaigns. We are grateful to A. Raco, G. Viviani, A. Grilli and M. Pietropaoli for the technical support. Finally, we acknowledge Dr. Roberta Fantoni responsible of the ADAMO project, and Professor Mauro Missori, WP leader.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 54, 00044, Frascati, RM, Italy

    Lucilla Pronti, Martina Romani & Mariangela Cestelli-Guidi

  2. C.N.R. Istituto di Cristallografia–Montelibretti, Via Salaria Km 29300, 00015, Monterotondo, RM, Italy

    Ombretta Tarquini, Marcello Colapietro & Augusto Pifferi

  3. INFN-Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133, Rome, Italy

    Gianluca Verona-Rinati & Marco Marinelli

  4. Palazzo Chigi, Piazza di Corte, 14, 00040, Ariccia, RM, Italy

    Francesco Petrucci

Authors
  1. Lucilla Pronti
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  2. Martina Romani
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  3. Ombretta Tarquini
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  4. Gianluca Verona-Rinati
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  5. Francesco Petrucci
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  6. Marcello Colapietro
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  7. Augusto Pifferi
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  8. Marco Marinelli
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  9. Mariangela Cestelli-Guidi
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Correspondence to Martina Romani.

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Pronti, L., Romani, M., Tarquini, O. et al. New insights on the painting “Portrait of Mario Nuzzi”: a preliminary analytical study of Mario Nuzzi’s pictorial production and of his artistic collaborations. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 135, 616 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00607-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00607-1

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