Gianluca Gariani presented the results of the thesis he recently defended at the C2RMF to IPANEMA’s team at a research meeting organized by Giulia Franceschin. His study concerned 26 devotional reliefs made of stucco.
Gianluca Gariani’s thesis aimed to understand the modes of production and diffusion of stucco reliefs from the Italian Renaissance.
First, he established criteria for the attribution of works based on microstructural and compositional criteria. Important insights were obtained on technological processes and raw material used in the manufacture of stucco. The analysis of trace elements and isotopes allow Gariani to determine the origin of the gypsum of which they are composed. Finally, through the use of 3D imaging, he highlighted the operating chains of the workshops of the great master sculptors.
This interdisciplinary thesis made links between the physico-chemical study of materials and art history.