Abstract
The “Trionfo della morte” is a detached fresco painting dated at the half of the XV century. Its history is strictly connected with the history of Palermo and it is considered a symbol of the late Gothic period. Some small areas of the fresco were analyzed using a combination of non-invasive techniques and hand-held instrumentations (multispectral imaging analysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and IR spectroscopy). The characterization of the nature of pigments used in its realization and restoration works was performed and some indications about its conservation state were obtained. More interestingly, some hidden details were revealed on the mysterious painting. They constitute additional evidence of the preciousness of the fresco.
Highlights
The "Trionfo della morte" (Triumph of Death), as shown in Figure 1, is an imposing and unique fresco painting (600 × 642 cm) and is one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, with a shocking representative power [1]
In the mid-fifteenth century, Palermo was Hispanic and under the reign of Alfonso V d’Aragona known as the Magnanimous, when the spread of epidemics, famines, and the Black Plague changed the perception of death, until the formation of a new expressive sensitivity, which led to the birth of vast literature and an intense figurative development on his iconography
After Alfonso V d’Aragona’s death and the long struggle for his succession, in 1400 the palace was confiscated and assigned to a noble Spanish family, who returned to Spain abandoning it to a progressive degradation
Summary
The "Trionfo della morte" (Triumph of Death), as shown in Figure 1, is an imposing and unique fresco painting (600 × 642 cm) and is one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, with a shocking representative power [1]. The "Trionfo della morte" (Triumph of Death), as shown, is an imposing and unique fresco painting (600 × 642 cm) and is one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, with a shocking representative power [1]. The fresco was realized in the courtyard of Palazzo Sclafani, built in 1330 at the behest of Count Matteo Sclafani, near the Palazzo dei Normanni, the Royal Palace. The palace was chosen to be the first public hospital of Palermo and its courtyard has been decorated with sculptures, paintings, and frescoes, which in some way could accompany and alleviate, spiritually, the guests in their sufferings. FigFuigruer2e. 2P.hPohtoostoosfotfhtehieninsitsuitudidaigangonsotsicticcacmampapiagingn. l.e(flte)fmt)umltuisltpisepctercatlraiml iamgaingignagcaqcuqiusiitsiiotino;nr;i(grhigt-hutp-u) p) XRXFRsFpsepcetrcatraacaqcuqisuiitsiiotnio;nr;ig(rhitg-dhot-wdonw) InR) sIRpescptreactarcaqauciqsuitiisointi.on
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