Abstract
This paper reports the analyses carried out on the medieval copper alloy door (1111–1118 AD) of the mausoleum of Boemondo d’Altavilla in Canosa di Puglia (Southern Italy). The studied door is the smallest medieval bronze door extant in Italy and, unlike the other Byzantine doors, was most probably made in Canosa di Puglia and not in Constantinople. Analyses were performed to assess the chemical composition of the alloy patinas using a portable energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) instrument designed at the University of Salento. The experimental results suggested that the two door leaves have the same chemical composition, even if they appear different in both style and size. Furthermore, the alloy used for the door is different from the other previously-analyzed Byzantine bronze doors. The obtained results can be used in the future to compare the chemical composition of other Byzantine doors in order to better understand the manufacture of these precious artifacts.
Highlights
Nowadays, only about thirty medieval doors made of copper alloy remain to be admired in Europe
The analysis was performed by using an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) portable instrument designed at the University of Salento [27,28]
Experimental results obtained by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) analysis were elaborated with multivariate statistical analysis [29,30,31] in order to identify possible correlations and/or differences existing among the samples analysed
Summary
Only about thirty medieval doors made of copper alloy remain to be admired in Europe. Most of the bronze doors dating from the Ancient period belong to the last centuries of the Western Roman Empire. These doors are characterized by the simplicity of the decorative plant or animal motifs that adorn them. In Italy, after the year 1000 between the second half of the 11th and the first half of the 12th century there was an increase in the use of doors made of copper alloy. These masterpieces were usually manufactured in Constantinople and exported to Italy, or made in Italian workshops imitating the original Byzantine doors
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