The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study.
The Tomb of the Diver has been subject for many decades of fierce debate among archaeologists and classicists. Since its discovery in 1968, some scholars have considered it a unique example of the lost tradition of Greek painting, others have emphasized Etruscan or Italic parallels. More recently, a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232375 |
| _version_ | 1818933472880754688 |
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| author | Maria Francesca Alberghina Chiara Germinario Giovanni Bartolozzi Susanna Bracci Celestino Grifa Francesco Izzo Mauro Francesco La Russa Donata Magrini Emanuela Massa Mariano Mercurio Viviana Mollica Nardo Maria Emanuela Oddo Stefano Maria Pagnotta Anna Pelagotti Rosina Celeste Ponterio Paola Ricci Natalia Rovella Silvestro Antonio Ruffolo Salvatore Schiavone Antonio Spagnuolo Carmela Vetromile Gabriel Zuchtriegel Carmine Lubritto |
| author_facet | Maria Francesca Alberghina Chiara Germinario Giovanni Bartolozzi Susanna Bracci Celestino Grifa Francesco Izzo Mauro Francesco La Russa Donata Magrini Emanuela Massa Mariano Mercurio Viviana Mollica Nardo Maria Emanuela Oddo Stefano Maria Pagnotta Anna Pelagotti Rosina Celeste Ponterio Paola Ricci Natalia Rovella Silvestro Antonio Ruffolo Salvatore Schiavone Antonio Spagnuolo Carmela Vetromile Gabriel Zuchtriegel Carmine Lubritto |
| author_sort | Maria Francesca Alberghina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Tomb of the Diver has been subject for many decades of fierce debate among archaeologists and classicists. Since its discovery in 1968, some scholars have considered it a unique example of the lost tradition of Greek painting, others have emphasized Etruscan or Italic parallels. More recently, a possible local production has been suggested. With the aim of trying to solve the archaeological question, an archaeometric comparison among this well-known artwork and several frescoed tombs coming from Hellenistic and Lucan necropolis was carried out. The multi-analytical study was focused on the identification of peculiar features of executive techniques and raw materials since the first period of the archaeological site. The analytical investigation has been preliminary based on a non-destructive approach, performed in-situ by portable equipment including imaging diagnostics and compositional spectroscopic techniques for identifying pigments and the conservation state of original painted surface; subsequently, a further deepening by using destructive techniques was performed in-lab for the mortar-based supports characterization. Archaeometric study suggested that technological choices slightly changed in a time span of about two centuries, highlighting important markers that allow clustering the contemporary artistic productions. Moreover, a comparison with mortars from temples decorations was provided to better understand the whole artistic context. The archaeometric data showed that the Tomb of the Diver could be traced back to a local artisanal tradition and therefore is neither Etruscan nor Greek, but the first and foremost an expression of the local elite culture of Paestum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T04:48:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-977ff294b239482ca44455e7becdceab |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T04:48:56Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-977ff294b239482ca44455e7becdceab2022-12-21T19:52:55ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01154e023237510.1371/journal.pone.0232375The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study.Maria Francesca AlberghinaChiara GerminarioGiovanni BartolozziSusanna BracciCelestino GrifaFrancesco IzzoMauro Francesco La RussaDonata MagriniEmanuela MassaMariano MercurioViviana Mollica NardoMaria Emanuela OddoStefano Maria PagnottaAnna PelagottiRosina Celeste PonterioPaola RicciNatalia RovellaSilvestro Antonio RuffoloSalvatore SchiavoneAntonio SpagnuoloCarmela VetromileGabriel ZuchtriegelCarmine LubrittoThe Tomb of the Diver has been subject for many decades of fierce debate among archaeologists and classicists. Since its discovery in 1968, some scholars have considered it a unique example of the lost tradition of Greek painting, others have emphasized Etruscan or Italic parallels. More recently, a possible local production has been suggested. With the aim of trying to solve the archaeological question, an archaeometric comparison among this well-known artwork and several frescoed tombs coming from Hellenistic and Lucan necropolis was carried out. The multi-analytical study was focused on the identification of peculiar features of executive techniques and raw materials since the first period of the archaeological site. The analytical investigation has been preliminary based on a non-destructive approach, performed in-situ by portable equipment including imaging diagnostics and compositional spectroscopic techniques for identifying pigments and the conservation state of original painted surface; subsequently, a further deepening by using destructive techniques was performed in-lab for the mortar-based supports characterization. Archaeometric study suggested that technological choices slightly changed in a time span of about two centuries, highlighting important markers that allow clustering the contemporary artistic productions. Moreover, a comparison with mortars from temples decorations was provided to better understand the whole artistic context. The archaeometric data showed that the Tomb of the Diver could be traced back to a local artisanal tradition and therefore is neither Etruscan nor Greek, but the first and foremost an expression of the local elite culture of Paestum.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232375 |
| spellingShingle | Maria Francesca Alberghina Chiara Germinario Giovanni Bartolozzi Susanna Bracci Celestino Grifa Francesco Izzo Mauro Francesco La Russa Donata Magrini Emanuela Massa Mariano Mercurio Viviana Mollica Nardo Maria Emanuela Oddo Stefano Maria Pagnotta Anna Pelagotti Rosina Celeste Ponterio Paola Ricci Natalia Rovella Silvestro Antonio Ruffolo Salvatore Schiavone Antonio Spagnuolo Carmela Vetromile Gabriel Zuchtriegel Carmine Lubritto The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study. PLoS ONE |
| title | The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study. |
| title_full | The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study. |
| title_fullStr | The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study. |
| title_short | The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study. |
| title_sort | tomb of the diver and the frescoed tombs in paestum southern italy new insights from a comparative archaeometric study |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232375 |
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