Sicilian Byzantine Icons through the Use of Non-Invasive Imaging Techniques and Optical Spectroscopy: The Case of the <i>Madonna dell’Elemosina</i>
Francesco Armetta,
Gabriella Chirco,
Fabrizio Lo Celso,
Veronica Ciaramitaro,
Eugenio Caponetti,
Massimo Midiri,
Giuseppe Lo Re,
Vladimir Gaishun,
Dmitry Kovalenko,
Alina Semchenko,
Dariusz Hreniak,
Maria Luisa Saladino
Affiliations
Francesco Armetta
Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies—STEBICEF, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 17, I-90128 Palermo, Italy
Gabriella Chirco
Department Culture e Società, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 15, I-90128 Palermo, Italy
Fabrizio Lo Celso
Department of Physics and Chemistry “E. Segre”, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 18, I-90128 Palermo, Italy
Veronica Ciaramitaro
Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies—STEBICEF, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 17, I-90128 Palermo, Italy
Eugenio Caponetti
Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies—STEBICEF, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 17, I-90128 Palermo, Italy
Massimo Midiri
Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, I-90127 Palermo, Italy
Giuseppe Lo Re
Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, I-90127 Palermo, Italy
Vladimir Gaishun
Faculty of Physics, Francisk Skorina Gomel State University, Soviet Str. 104, 246019 Gomel, Belarus
Dmitry Kovalenko
Faculty of Physics, Francisk Skorina Gomel State University, Soviet Str. 104, 246019 Gomel, Belarus
Alina Semchenko
Faculty of Physics, Francisk Skorina Gomel State University, Soviet Str. 104, 246019 Gomel, Belarus
Dariusz Hreniak
Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Science, ul. Okólna 2, 50-422 Wrocław, Poland
Maria Luisa Saladino
Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies—STEBICEF, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 17, I-90128 Palermo, Italy
The iconographic heritage is one of the treasures of Byzantine art that have enriched the south of Italy, and Sicily in particular, since the early 16th century. In this work, the investigations of a Sicilian Icon of Greek-Byzantine origin, the Madonna dell’Elemosina, is reported for the first time. The study was carried out using mainly non-invasive imaging techniques (photography in reflectance and grazing visible light, UV fluorescence, infrared reflectography, radiography, and computed tomography) and spectroscopic techniques (X-ray fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy). The identification of the constituent materials provides a decisive contribution to the correct historical and artistic placement of the Icon, a treasure of the Eastern European historical community in Sicily. Some hidden details have also been highlighted. Most importantly, the information obtained enables us to define its conservation state, the presence of foreign materials, and to direct its protection and restoration.
