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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

Antonio Iaccarino Idelson is an art conservator based in Rome, Italy, with a degree from Istituto Centrale per il Restauro. CEO and co-founder of Equilibrarte, he works on paintings, wall paintings and sculptures. He has been doing research on the effects of tension in canvas paintings and their mechanical behavior since 1992, and published a book on the subject in 2004. Currently a PhD candidate with Dr. Roger Groves as Promoter, at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the Technical University Delft, with a research project entitled "The determination of the value of tension of canvas paintings through the impulse of a sound wave”. Canvas paintings are intimately connected with their stretchers and they often conflict on one specific subject: tension. Tension regulates the appearance of the painting, avoiding distortions, but it also regulates the conservation of the paint layers. Insufficient tension is often perceived as a problem because of its visible effects, but excessive tension is the main cause of cracks and other structural problems.
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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

Mitra Almasian is a postdoctoral researcher at both the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam UMC, University Medical Centers. Her research focusses on the use of optical techniques for non-invasive imaging and diagnostics, with a main focus on OCT. Within Operation Night Watch, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) was applied to non-invasively image the varnish and paint layers. In collaboration with the Biomedical Engineering and Physics department of Amsterdam UMC, virtual cross-sectional images from selected regions of interest were collected. These images revealed the internal structure of varnish and semi-transparent layers, and enabled the micro-scale mapping of the paint topology underneath semi-transparent layers. During this talk some high-lights, the added value of OCT within Operation Night Watch and possible future perspectives of OCT research in cultural heritage are discussed.
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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

René Lugtigheid recently obtained her Ph.D. on the research 'From Earthly Fabric to Heavenly Praise: An Object-Based Research into Why Women Gave Their Best Dresses to the Catholic Church in the 18th Century' at the University of Amsterdam. The bodice of a precious gown in a Catholic Church drawer and conspicuous sewing holes and fold marks in the beautiful fabrics of old mass vestments were the reason for research into eighteenth-century Catholic ecclesiastic robes in Dutch churches. It became clear that mainly wealthy ladies donated their best silk dresses to the church. Vestments made of used clothing raise questions, especially as a gift of wealthy women. Little has been recorded in writing as to why women donate used clothing to the church. However, the objects themselves turn out to be a rich source of information. This presentation explains which research method has been used to answer the question. The research shows, among other things, that the women attached a special significance to these worn clothes and this sacred reuse.
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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

Alba Alvarez is a Junior Scientist at the Science Department of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where she is in charge of the scientific analysis of organic materials by GC/MS. GC/MS analysis has been traditionally associated with destructive analysis, however due to the improvements of the instrumentation, progress has being made towards more sensitive and less invasive analysis. This presentation will show the new protocols that are being implemented at the Rijksmuseum, such as monitoring the reactions that take place during (and after) the cleaning of paintings or carrying out non-destructive sampling inside the museum galleries.
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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

Dr. Margriet van Eikema Hommes is an art historian specialized in historical painting techniques and Dutch 17th and 18th century painting ensembles. In this talk, Margriet will go into the process of creating a virtual reconstruction of the early eighteenth-century appearance of the “Golden Room” in the Mauritshuis, The Hague. This room was made between 1708 to 1718 and includes fifteen paintings by the Venetian painter Giovanni Pellegrini. The virtual reconstruction is based on the results of historical and analytical research into the room’s original colour scheme and the original appearance of Pellegrini’s paintings.
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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

In 2018, a set of six paper rolls came to light from the depths of Rijksmuseum storage rooms. Besides the lack of a clear provenance or clues as to who created these rolls, their historical function was puzzling. In preparation for the exhibition XXL Paper (summer 2022), a team of paper conservators conserved the larger piece of the set and conducted a study on it, aiming at unlocking some of the many secrets this mysterious object brings with it. This presentation by Femke Coevert and Dafne Diamante, will focus on the technical description of the panorama and its past use and will give insights on scientific research done up till now. Femke Coevert is paper & book conservator at Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Since 2015 she has led the conservation team within ‘Printroom Online’, preparing the vast paper-based collections for digitisation. Last year she was project leader for Cyclorama Reichardt’s research and treatment. Dafne Diamante is working at the Rijksmuseum in the Paper Conservation team for the 'Print Room Online' project. In March 2020 she took part as Junior Conservator in the team in charge of the conservation treatment of a 23 meters long Cyclorama Reichardt, in preparation for Rijksmuseum's exhibition 'XXL Paper'.
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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

Siavash Maraghechi is a post-doctoral researcher in the Chair of Applied Mechanics at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His research interest is in the field of multiscale experimental mechanics, that he is currently applying to study degradation of historical paper as a part of ColletionCare project, that aims to develop an innovative preventive conservation decision support system for museums and collections. In this presentation he introduces the experimental methodology to study the mechanical behaviour of single cellulose fibres, the building block of paper. An optical profilometer, a micro-tensile stage and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique come together to result in a deeper understanding of the mechanics of each fibre. Such detailed assessment of cellulose fibres’ properties can be applied to naturally aged paper samples, or combined with accelerated aging experiments to shed valuable light on the degradation of paper, and provide better guidance for conservators.
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NICAS COLLOQUIUM

Anna Krekeler started working at the Rijksmuseum as a painting conservator in 2007. She is a team member of Operation Night Watch and currently involved in the technical research of Rembrandt’s masterpiece. Operation Night Watch is the largest research and conservation project, that Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Night Watch (1642, oil on canvas, h 378.4 x w 453 cm) has ever undergone. When looking at The Night Watch, one area in particular has often been noted by public and scholars alike: the indistinct, blotchy, almost faded-looking dog, which is vaguely visible in the lower right corner of the composition. This talk discusses what is compromising the dog’s current appearance and how he might have looked like originally.