Art casting in Portuguese 19th century industrial foundries: a multi-analytical study of an emblematic copper-based alloy monument

Pablo General-Toro; Rui Bordalo; Patrícia Raquel Moreira; Eduarda Vieira; Antonio Brunetti; Roberta Iannaccone; Carlo Bottaini

doi:10.20944/preprints202109.0005.v1

Art casting in Portuguese 19th century industrial foundries: a multi-analytical study of an emblematic copper-based alloy monument

Pablo General-Toro, Rui Bordalo, Patrícia Raquel Moreira, Eduarda Vieira, Antonio Brunetti, Roberta Iannaccone, Carlo Bottaini^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Working paper › Preprint

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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.

Original language	English
Number of pages	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202109.0005.v1
Publication status	Published - Sept 2021

Keywords

19th century metal sculpture
Afonso Henriques
Art foundries
Corrosion
Elemental characterisation
Outdoor sculpture

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10.20944/preprints202109.0005.v1Licence: CC BY

43559686Final published version, 0.99 MBLicence: CC BY

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/37811Licence: CC BY

CITAR: Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts
Vieira, E. (PI), Nobre da Silva Pais, A. M. (Other career/Public sector), Filipe, C. (Private Sector), Serra, S. (Assistant Professor), Baltazar, A. (Assistant Professor), Lobo, C. (Invited Assistant Professor), Carmona, C. R. (Assistant Professor), Sá, C. (Assistant Professor), Sousa, G. V. E. (Full Professor), Pereira, H. M. (Assistant Professor), Neves, J. (Invited Assistant Professor), Teixeira, J. (Invited Assistant Professor), Gomes, J. A. (Invited Assistant Professor), Carvalho, J. V. (Invited Assistant Professor), Castro, L. (Assistant Professor), Teixeira, L. (Assistant Professor), Aguiar, M. (Assistant Professor), Crespo, N. (Assistant Professor), Camarneiro, N. (Invited Assistant Professor), Costa, P. R. (Invited Assistant Professor), Pestana, P. D. (Invited Assistant Professor), Alves, P. (Invited Assistant Professor), Kunz, S. (Assistant Professor), Neves, S. (Invited Assistant Professor), Coutinho, V. M. (Invited Assistant Professor), Galán-Pérez, A. (Private Sector), Rangel, A. (Professor non-higher education), Natálio, C. (Researcher), Henriques, F. (Researcher), Afonso Lopes, M. I. (Private Sector), Bordalo, R. (Researcher) & Lammeren, S. R. L. V. (Researcher)
1/01/20 → 31/12/24
Project: Research

Cite this

@techreport{00032b95a4734d2da35d56da5a30bf2f,

title = "Art casting in Portuguese 19th century industrial foundries: a multi-analytical study of an emblematic copper-based alloy monument",

abstract = "The outdoor sculpture of the first Portuguese king, D. Afonso Henriques (~1109 – 1185 AD), placed in Guimar{\~a}es (North Portugal) is one of the most emblematic national sculptures. Created in 1887 by Ant{\'o}nio 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 = "19th century metal sculpture, Afonso Henriques, Art foundries, Corrosion, Elemental characterisation, Outdoor sculpture",

author = "Pablo General-Toro and Rui Bordalo and Moreira, {Patr{\'i}cia Raquel} and Eduarda Vieira and Antonio Brunetti and Roberta Iannaccone and Carlo Bottaini",

note = "Funding Information: The study was carried out within the first author?s PhD project under grant SFRH/BD/137253/2018, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH). R.B. acknowledges the GEO-SR project: ?Multidisciplinary approach to alteration, altera-bility and conservation of Soares dos Reis geomaterial sculpture: breaking boundaries in museum paradigms and creating value in changing societies through Cultural Heritage? (funding by FEDER and FCT, reference number 031304). The analyses were performed with equipment from the HERCULES Laboratory (University of ?vora, Portugal) (UIDB/04449/2020 and UIDP/04449/2020) funded by FCT.Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia and FEDER: PTDC/ART-OUT/31304/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031304). Funding Information: Funding: The study was carried out within the first author{\textquoteright}s PhD project under grant SFRH/BD/137253/2018, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH). R.B. acknowledges the GEO-SR project: “Multidisciplinary approach to alteration, alterability and conservation of Soares dos Reis geomaterial sculpture: breaking boundaries in museum paradigms and creating value in changing societies through Cultural Heritage” (funding by FEDER and FCT, reference number 031304). The analyses were performed with equipment from the HERCULES Laboratory (University of {\'E}vora, Portugal) (UIDB/04449/2020 and UIDP/04449/2020) funded by FCT.Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e a Tecnologia and FEDER: PTDC/ART-OUT/31304/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031304) Data Availability Statement: Data generated and analysed during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

doi = "10.20944/preprints202109.0005.v1",

language = "English",

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AU - General-Toro, Pablo

AU - Bordalo, Rui

AU - Moreira, Patrícia Raquel

AU - Vieira, Eduarda

AU - Brunetti, Antonio

AU - Iannaccone, Roberta

AU - Bottaini, Carlo

N1 - Funding Information: The study was carried out within the first author?s PhD project under grant SFRH/BD/137253/2018, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH). R.B. acknowledges the GEO-SR project: ?Multidisciplinary approach to alteration, altera-bility and conservation of Soares dos Reis geomaterial sculpture: breaking boundaries in museum paradigms and creating value in changing societies through Cultural Heritage? (funding by FEDER and FCT, reference number 031304). The analyses were performed with equipment from the HERCULES Laboratory (University of ?vora, Portugal) (UIDB/04449/2020 and UIDP/04449/2020) funded by FCT.Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia and FEDER: PTDC/ART-OUT/31304/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031304). Funding Information: Funding: The study was carried out within the first author’s PhD project under grant SFRH/BD/137253/2018, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH). R.B. acknowledges the GEO-SR project: “Multidisciplinary approach to alteration, alterability and conservation of Soares dos Reis geomaterial sculpture: breaking boundaries in museum paradigms and creating value in changing societies through Cultural Heritage” (funding by FEDER and FCT, reference number 031304). The analyses were performed with equipment from the HERCULES Laboratory (University of Évora, Portugal) (UIDB/04449/2020 and UIDP/04449/2020) funded by FCT.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and FEDER: PTDC/ART-OUT/31304/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031304) Data Availability Statement: Data generated and analysed during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021/9

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N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - 19th century metal sculpture

KW - Afonso Henriques

KW - Art foundries

KW - Corrosion

KW - Elemental characterisation

KW - Outdoor sculpture

U2 - 10.20944/preprints202109.0005.v1

DO - 10.20944/preprints202109.0005.v1

M3 - Preprint

BT - Art casting in Portuguese 19th century industrial foundries

ER -

Art casting in Portuguese 19th century industrial foundries: a multi-analytical study of an emblematic copper-based alloy monument

Abstract

Keywords

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Projects

CITAR: Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts

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