Proceeding Book of 12th European Symposium on Religious art, Restoration & Conservation

Fundamental contribution to filling out the condition reports of the work of arts involved in temporary exhibitions is provided by non-invasive investigation techniques. Investigation, carried out before and after the movement, allow to collect objective data to monitoring the surface or structural alterations and defining the state of conservation, representing an important moment of deepening of knowledge. Generally, these aspects often are left to photographic documentation and observations by conservators and curators. An example of good practice is represented by the case of the Saint Gregory Polyptych (Antonello da Messina, 1473) belonging to the Regional Museum of Messina (Italy). This artwork, constituting by five wooden panels [Madonna and Child, 129×77 cm; San Gregorio and San Benedetto, both 125×63 cm; Announcing Angel 65 × 62 cm, and Announced Virgin, 65 × 55 cm] has recently undergone to non-invasive investigations aimed to evaluate the conservation state of the wooden support and the pictorial layers before the moving to the temporary exhibition “Antonello da Messina” (Palazzo Abatellis, 14 December 2018 - 10 February 2019). This exhibition was the largest dedicated to the painter Antonello da Messina containing half of his existing works. Specifically, Raman and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy investigation was carried out in situ with the aim to identify the molecular species, organic and inorganic respectively, present in the pictorial layer both in the pigment and binder form. In situ XRR (X-Ray Radiography imaging) was carried out to move the precious panels, through a conservative actions.