"The Lord's Transfiguration" icon painted by Grigore Ranite belongs to a collection of altarpiece icons from the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. The aim of this paper is to present the results ...obtained from the scientific investigations carried out to establish the materials and methods used by the painter for the accomplishment of the religious art work, both for conservation and restoration purposes, as well as to enrich the knowledge about the work of this particular author and about the Transylvanian iconography in general. The analyses were performed by means of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy and destructive and nondestructive Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize the painting materials and artistic technique used by Grigore Ranite to create the wooden icon, "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem." ...Particular attention was dedicated to identifying changes in the condition of the icon's materials. To achieve these aims, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in transmission-mode and X-ray fluorescence were used. The material used for the panel was identified to be softwood, which showed differing states of preservation due to wood-decay caused by fungi. It was established the multilayer structure of ground was composed of gypsum and animal glue. Ranite used the typical egg tempera (or tempera grassa) technique to obtain a polychromatic surface for the icon. The pigments that Ranite used to obtain the color red were vermilion, red lead, and hematite. For green, he used malachite, verdigris and copper resinate. Prussian blue and white lead, were probably employed for the color blue. Bone black pigments and iron oxides of various colors were also used. The varnish consisted mainly of a mixture of diterpenic resins, linseed oil, beeswax, and shellac. A major achievement was the identification of an early eighteenth century type of Prussian blue and characterization of its aging process. The results help to date and authenticate Ranite's icon, as well as to establish proper conservation methods in Romania. The findings will contribute toward a better understanding of the chemical and biological aspects of icon materials.
Precise knowledge of the beam optics at the LHC is crucial to fulfill the physics goals of the TOTEM experiment, where the kinematics of the scattered protons is reconstructed with near-beam ...telescopes-so-called Roman pots (RP). Before being detected, the protons' trajectories are influenced by the magnetic fields of the accelerator lattice. Thus precise understanding of the proton transport is of key importance for the experiment. A novel method of optics evaluation is proposed which exploits kinematical distributions of elastically scattered protons observed in the RPs. Theoretical predictions, as well as Monte Carlo studies, show that the residual uncertainty of the optics estimation method is smaller than .
The Imperial icon of Jesus Christ portrays Him as prophet and teacher, blessing with his right hand, and holding the Holy Scriptures in His left hand. The representation of the Savior, just like in ...the case of the Holy Mother, Mary, in the iconographic repertoire of the Imperial (Holy) icons, is depicted in the most personal and unique way, due to the importance of these icons for the church. The icon was investigated by several analytical methods both for the wooden support and for the painting materials. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry were employed for studying the nature and conservation state of the wooden support. The wooden species of the icon base was determined to be fir and fungal attack of this wood was evidenced by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy were used for the investigation of the painted materials. Gypsum was used as ground and the following paint materials were used: red by lead and red iron; green by Scheele green; blue by Vivianite; and white by gypsum and lead white. A protein binder was employed. The icon is considered to be manufactured after 1704.
The wooden Straja Church represents an interesting historical monument from Transylvania that still retains the original popular religious paintings with various degrees of degradation. This paper ...aims to present the scientific investigation results about the materials and methods used by the painter and his son for both restoration and conservation purposes, and also to enrich the knowledge regarding the work of this author in particular and Transylvanian historical religious art in general. The investigations were performed by means of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, destructive and nondestructive Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).
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