Braiding Fruits and Flowers as a Wish of Prosperity and Victory over Death in the Carved Festoons of Ancient Rome.

Plant motifs had a significant role in ancient cultures, with decorative, artistic, and communicative values. However, little knowledge exists of the botanical composition of festoons, widely used in Greek-Roman art. We analysed 81 festoons, exclusively from sculpture artworks, collected from 13 museums and archaeological sites in Rome (1st century BC-3rd century AD).

The Hypogeous Roman Archeological Museum of Positano: Study of the Evolution of Biological Threaten and Development of Adequate Control Protocols.

Hypogea are natural or artificial spaces located underground often of great interest from an anthropological, archeological, religious, artistic, or historic point of view. Due to their features, these environments usually present conservative problems and biological colonization could be considered as one of the main threats. The present three-year study was carried out by specialists of the Central Institute for Restoration of Rome (ICR) in the hypogeous site preserved in the Roman Archeological Museum of Positano (Positano MAR) and focused on characterizing biological alterations present on the mural paintings; setting up efficient strategies and protocols for biodeterioration control; and monitoring the efficacy of direct and indirect interventions.

In Vitro Viability Tests of New Ecofriendly Nanosystems Incorporating Essential Oils for Long-Lasting Conservation of Stone Artworks.

The study explores the application of natural biocides (oregano essential oil and eugenol, directly applied in solutions or encapsulated within silica nanocapsules) for safeguarding stone cultural heritage from biodeterioration, using green algae ( sp.) and cyanobacteria ( sp.) as common pioneer biodeteriogens.

Science for art: multi-years' evaluations of biocidal efficacy in support of artwork conservation.

In recent decades, the relationship between Science and Art has been gradually strengthened through the use of diagnostic, conservation, and valorization technologies. New technologies can also be used to support the creation and durability of bio-artworks. Within such a context, starting from the Spring of 2014, we performed experimentations to eventually increase the durability of the graphical artwork of William Kentridge on the Lungotevere embankments, whose creation was scheduled in the following years.