A 15th Century Polychromatic Wooden Statue by Francesco of Valdambrino. The scientific investigation and preservation challenges.

The focus of this work is a polychrome wooden statue attributed to Francesco, a 15th century Italian sculptor, from Valdambrino. In this study, original and additional materials were examined in order to provide a deeper understanding of the technique utilised and a greater awareness of how well preserved the object is, as well as an analysis of previous preservation and conservation interventions. The component materials of the statue were analysed by: micro-Raman spectroscopy in order to identify the pigments, Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry (FTIR) to study the binders and the restoration materials, optical microscopy to examine the technique utilised, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to identify the type of wood used. Temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) near the statue were recorded for a year using a digital data logger with the aim of evaluating the suitability of the environment for the preservation of the artefact.