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Material characteristics and conservation of historical Statue of Neptune in the City of Gdańsk
Author(s) -
Hucińska J.,
Głowacka M
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
materials and corrosion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.487
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1521-4176
pISSN - 0947-5117
DOI - 10.1002/1521-4176(200008)51:8<579::aid-maco579>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - statue , sculpture , art , epoxy , brass , humanities , archaeology , metallurgy , materials science , art history , composite material , copper , geography
This paper presents some chemical and metallographic studies of the Statue of Neptune, which is a famous historical object in the City of Gdańsk. In 1998, due to the conservation work to be carried out on the Statue, a decision had to be taken about the repair methods to be applied to the right hand of the Statue which was badly damaged. Examinations have revealed that this XVII‐century art‐casting was made of brass, containing also some other alloying elements such as lead, tin, and antimony. Due to the presence of lead, it was necessary to abandon an earlier decision to join two parts of the arm near the wrist using flame plating. It has been found that an internal hollow made of a copper alloy ensures strength that is appropriate to the arm structure. The fissure in the wrist was thoroughly cleaned and filled up with epoxy resin mixed with some brass dust additives and colouring substances to integrate the colours with the original. Other damage was also repaired using epoxy resin. In order to protect the sculpture against the destructive effect of the environment, its surface was covered with a film of a substance obtained by mixing two solutions consisting of bees‐wax in toluene and Paraloid/Acryloid B‐72 in toluene.