Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century AD
A diagnostic chemical analysis has been performed on a Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> in precious white marble located close to an ancient Roman road. The <i>Cippus</i> was in good condition but almost completely covered by a black patina, requiring a conservative cleaning inte...
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2025-03-01
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| author | Mauro Castrucci Mauro Tomassetti Emanuele Dell’Aglio Giovanni Visco Maria Pia Sammartino Marco Castracane |
| author_facet | Mauro Castrucci Mauro Tomassetti Emanuele Dell’Aglio Giovanni Visco Maria Pia Sammartino Marco Castracane |
| author_sort | Mauro Castrucci |
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| description | A diagnostic chemical analysis has been performed on a Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> in precious white marble located close to an ancient Roman road. The <i>Cippus</i> was in good condition but almost completely covered by a black patina, requiring a conservative cleaning intervention. The restorer in charge of the restoration asked us to make a preliminary diagnosis, on the basis of which we could suggest the most appropriate intervention. The <i>Cippus</i> was dedicated to the young Quintus Cornelius Proclianus, who died at the age of 15, by his mother Valeria Calpurnia Scopele. It perfectly fits into the Roman funerary liturgy and also shows an Etruscan-type iconography that seems to confirm the Etruscan Gens of the family and its dating to the 1st century AD. Ion chromatography (IC) analyses were performed to determine anions and cations on solutions obtained from the extraction of salts from the four samples of the <i>Cippus</i>. pH, conductivity, and red-ox potential measures, as well as UV-visible spectra were carried out on the same solutions. A small fragment, spontaneously fallen from the <i>Cippus’</i> surface, was also observed by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). From the analyses, the dark patina that covered the surface before cleaning turned out to be made of black crusts, that is, smog particles adsorbed on sulfates, but above all, by a layer of microflora. The results allowed us to suggest some conservative interventions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-32972025ceb34387bdcc312fc75d199e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2673-4532 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Analytica |
| spelling | doaj-art-32972025ceb34387bdcc312fc75d199e2025-08-20T02:41:48ZengMDPI AGAnalytica2673-45322025-03-01611110.3390/analytica6010011Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century ADMauro Castrucci0Mauro Tomassetti1Emanuele Dell’Aglio2Giovanni Visco3Maria Pia Sammartino4Marco Castracane5Department of Chemistry, University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, ItalyA diagnostic chemical analysis has been performed on a Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> in precious white marble located close to an ancient Roman road. The <i>Cippus</i> was in good condition but almost completely covered by a black patina, requiring a conservative cleaning intervention. The restorer in charge of the restoration asked us to make a preliminary diagnosis, on the basis of which we could suggest the most appropriate intervention. The <i>Cippus</i> was dedicated to the young Quintus Cornelius Proclianus, who died at the age of 15, by his mother Valeria Calpurnia Scopele. It perfectly fits into the Roman funerary liturgy and also shows an Etruscan-type iconography that seems to confirm the Etruscan Gens of the family and its dating to the 1st century AD. Ion chromatography (IC) analyses were performed to determine anions and cations on solutions obtained from the extraction of salts from the four samples of the <i>Cippus</i>. pH, conductivity, and red-ox potential measures, as well as UV-visible spectra were carried out on the same solutions. A small fragment, spontaneously fallen from the <i>Cippus’</i> surface, was also observed by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). From the analyses, the dark patina that covered the surface before cleaning turned out to be made of black crusts, that is, smog particles adsorbed on sulfates, but above all, by a layer of microflora. The results allowed us to suggest some conservative interventions.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4532/6/1/11Roman Funebris Cippusdiagnostic chemical–instrumental analysisidentification of the main causes of degradationoptical microscopyelectrochemical measurementsUV-vis spectrophotometry |
| spellingShingle | Mauro Castrucci Mauro Tomassetti Emanuele Dell’Aglio Giovanni Visco Maria Pia Sammartino Marco Castracane Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century AD Analytica Roman Funebris Cippus diagnostic chemical–instrumental analysis identification of the main causes of degradation optical microscopy electrochemical measurements UV-vis spectrophotometry |
| title | Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century AD |
| title_full | Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century AD |
| title_fullStr | Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century AD |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century AD |
| title_short | Chemical, Diagnostic, and Instrumental Analysis of an Ancient Roman <i>Cippus funebris</i> from the First Century AD |
| title_sort | chemical diagnostic and instrumental analysis of an ancient roman i cippus funebris i from the first century ad |
| topic | Roman Funebris Cippus diagnostic chemical–instrumental analysis identification of the main causes of degradation optical microscopy electrochemical measurements UV-vis spectrophotometry |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4532/6/1/11 |
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