During the trip to Florence last weekend, I visited the
Uffizi Gallery and saw incredible paintings by Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo
and many more. While all of the paintings were incredibly beautiful and famous,
I was particularly struck by a temporary exhibit that we only saw by chance. It
was the last day of the Tapestry Gallery, an exhibit on display for only a few
weeks, in which seventeen antique tapestries were hung up for public viewing
for the first time in twenty-five years. The tapestries had been removed from
the Uffizi due to their degradation from light, temperature, and other
environmental factors. The curators chose to hang restored pieces adjacent to
ones that have not restored, highlighting how significant the damage fabric
artworks experience can be. This juxtaposition was plainly obvious even to
someone as ignorant of fabrics as me. The un-restored pieces were almost
completely leeched of color, losing the incredibly intricate level of detail
seen in the restored pieces. Alongside the tapestries, information about the
degradation of fabric pieces over time and the restoration process was
presented. I was unable to read about the entire process (getting to the bus
station was a slightly more pressing issue) so I did some research and found
that photochemistry, or light related chemistry, is the primary source of
analytical tools used to investigate textiles.
As
discussed in class with regard to other art forms, the techniques used to study
antique textiles must be non-invasive and non-destructive. Fluorescence
spectroscopy has been particularly useful in recent years in determining the
red plant based colors used to dye silks. Colorimetry, in which the colors of
samples are quantified and compared through spectroscopy, is used for pre and
post restoration comparisons.
Not
only can analytical techniques reveal information about the dyes in a tapestry
but they can also reveal information about the dying process. It was discovered
that when a mordant, which helps dyes to adhere to thread, was used along with
the dye, the bonds between the thread and dye molecules were different. Based
on the standards created then analyzed using spectroscopy and fluorimetry, a
database has grown to compare ancient textiles to which indicates the dying
process used in addition to just the dyes. These studies have also revealed how
some dye compounds interact and bind with thread. For example, purpurin bonding
to thread was determined to be through one hydrogen bond after it was found
that purpurin was present as a monomer when mordant was not used while it was a
dianion in samples with mordant.
Through chemical analysis,
much can be discovered about ancient dyes and textiles. This information can
then be used to prevent further damage by controlling the environment (light,
humidity, heat, etc) where tapestries are stored. To see some more photos of
the tapestries in the Uffizi exhibition, visit http://www.unannoadarte.it/arazzi/eng/arazzi-galleria.html.
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