Abstract
We performed an archaeometric study of the ceramic materials from the facade of the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Pavia (Italy). We obtained useful information about the firing temperatures, the provenance of raw materials and the type of oven used. The ceramics used in the facade are mineralogically rich in quartz, feldspar and phyllosilicates, and newly formed calcium silicate phases were detected in some samples. Microtextural observations revealed the presence of incipient reaction rims, phyllosilicate sintering and partial vitrification of the matrix. Ceramics show high porosity (32 to 45%) and pore sizes of between 0.4 and 1.3 µm. Our study of the different types of decay collected on the facade of the church (green and black patinas and efflorescences) revealed the presence of gypsum, whewellite, thenardite and moolooite.
Highlights
In this work we describe the analytical investigation of ceramic materials from the façade of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, a famous mediaeval monument in Pavia (Italy) (Figure 1)
It is interesting that the samples we studied show similar results for porosity, pore size distribution and firing temperatures as the bricks from Roman and Mediaeval monuments (1, 34) as well as bricks fired in the laboratory at temperatures of between 800 and 900 °C (2); this similarity is an additional confirmation of the firing temperature for the samples from the church, proposed above
Our research suggests that the firing temperature ranged between 800 and 900 °C and that the raw materials were quarried from local areas (Lomellina) that were poor in carbonates
Summary
In this work we describe the analytical investigation of ceramic materials from the façade of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, a famous mediaeval monument in Pavia (Italy) (Figure 1). To the archaeometric purpose we studied the compositional characteristics and physical properties of the ceramics in order to discover the provenance of the clayey raw materials and establish the temperatures at which the green ceramic bodies were fired and the type of oven used. This type of research is of paramount importance for conservation purposes, because historical buildings should be restored using materials with similar properties to the original materials. Porosity and pore-size distribution are other important parameters for predicting the durability of building materials subject to aggressive attacks by acid rain, salt crystallization and freeze-thaw cycles (1, 4, 12, 13). Variations in the porosity values of a ceramic product (due to its composition, firing and possible deterioration) have marked effects on its mechanical resistance
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