General-Toro, P.; Bordalo, R.; Moreira, P.R.; Vieira, E.; Brunetti, A.; Iannaccone, R.; Bottaini, C. Art Casting in Portuguese 19th Century Industrial Foundries: A Multi-Analytical Study of an Emblematic Copper-Based Alloy Monument. Heritage2021, 4, 3050-3064.
General-Toro, P.; Bordalo, R.; Moreira, P.R.; Vieira, E.; Brunetti, A.; Iannaccone, R.; Bottaini, C. Art Casting in Portuguese 19th Century Industrial Foundries: A Multi-Analytical Study of an Emblematic Copper-Based Alloy Monument. Heritage 2021, 4, 3050-3064.
General-Toro, P.; Bordalo, R.; Moreira, P.R.; Vieira, E.; Brunetti, A.; Iannaccone, R.; Bottaini, C. Art Casting in Portuguese 19th Century Industrial Foundries: A Multi-Analytical Study of an Emblematic Copper-Based Alloy Monument. Heritage2021, 4, 3050-3064.
General-Toro, P.; Bordalo, R.; Moreira, P.R.; Vieira, E.; Brunetti, A.; Iannaccone, R.; Bottaini, C. Art Casting in Portuguese 19th Century Industrial Foundries: A Multi-Analytical Study of an Emblematic Copper-Based Alloy Monument. Heritage 2021, 4, 3050-3064.
Abstract
The outdoor sculpture of the first Portuguese king, D. Afonso Henriques (~1109 – 1185 AD), placed in Guimarães (North Portugal) is one of the most emblematic national sculptures. Created in 1887 by António Soares dos Reis, it possesses a remarkable symbolic value in the presumed birthplace of the king. In addition to the artistic and heritage importance of the monument, it is one of the few sculptures cast by a Portuguese industrial foundry in the 19th-century. This study obtained data on the sculpture's elemental composition and corrosion products, gathering important historical and technical information. For this purpose, a multi-analytical approach consisting of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) was carried out to characterise the bulk metal and corrosion layers. The data revealed a ternary alloy of Cu, Sn, Zn with Pb, Fe, As, Bi and Mn as minor elements. The alloy matches that of other sculptures cast in that period. In terms of corrosion, it is characterised by the presence of oxides. These results represent the first step for applying an appropriate conservation strategy for bronze sculptures with similar characteristics.
Keywords
19-century metal sculpture; art foundries; elemental characterisation; corrosion; outdoor sculpture; Afonso Henriques.
Subject
Arts and Humanities, Art
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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