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The Stone Surface Cleaning According to Criteria of Effectiveness and Controllability: The Procuratie Nuove Case of Study (Venice)

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Advanced Nondestructive and Structural Techniques for Diagnosis, Redesign and Health Monitoring for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (TMM 2023)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Materials ((SPM,volume 33))

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Abstract

The Procuratie Nuove (St. Mark Square, Venice) was built between 1587 and 1655 and was subjected to an exceptional restoration intervention, closed in 2018 under the direction of the Superintendence of Venice. The intervention was a significant opportunity to study the criteria for choosing cleaning methods applicable in a very articulated and emblematic context, with evidence of past treatments emerging alongside the deposits and decay layers. This contribution presents the most significant results in assessing the different cleaning methods' impacts. The objective verification through a semi-quantitative analysis of two species associated with the effectiveness of the method (removal of gypsum) and its controllability (preservation of calcium oxalate) was proposed. The tests showed that the effective removal of gypsum left the surface with a dark colour, often associated with the concept of “dirt”. That was an opportunity to propose and share a different approach to cleaning historical architectural surfaces with citizens and stakeholders.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank Arch. Renata Codello, then Superintendent for the Architectural Heritage, the Landscape and the Historical, Artistic and Demo-ethno-anthropological Heritage of Venice and the Lagoon and Arch. Ilaria Cavaggioni, Director of the intervention on the Procuratie Nuove, for allowing us to share the experience of this exceptional building site.

This work contains reflections that result from an approach that characterises the school of chemistry for conservation in Venice, which originated thanks to Guido Biscontin, whom we remember with undiminished affection and esteem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (I), Venice, Italy

    Guido Biscontin & Elisabetta Zendri

  2. Arcadia Ricerche S.R.L.—Venezia, Marghera, Italy

    Guido Driussi

Authors
  1. Guido Biscontin
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  2. Guido Driussi
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  3. Elisabetta Zendri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elisabetta Zendri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive, Saarland University of Applied Sciences, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Ahmad Osman

  2. National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Antonia Moropoulou

  3. National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Kyriakos Lampropoulos

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Biscontin, G., Driussi, G., Zendri, E. (2024). The Stone Surface Cleaning According to Criteria of Effectiveness and Controllability: The Procuratie Nuove Case of Study (Venice). In: Osman, A., Moropoulou, A., Lampropoulos, K. (eds) Advanced Nondestructive and Structural Techniques for Diagnosis, Redesign and Health Monitoring for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. TMM 2023. Springer Proceedings in Materials, vol 33. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42239-3_10

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