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What's a feast for the human eye may be a literal feast for microorganisms that colonize works of art, according to a new study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Elisabetta Caselli of the University of Ferrara, Italy, and colleagues. The researchers characterized the microbial community on a 17th century painting and showed that while some microbes destroy such works of art, others might be employed to protect them.

Carlo Bononi, Incoronazione della Vergine: 1616-1620, oil on canvas, 280 cm in diameter, Ferrara, Basilica of Santa Maria in Vado: a) painting (sampling points are indicated by asterisks, *); b) damage due to biodegradation (verso); c) craquelures network; d) lacerations, deformations, and gaps corresponding to the cloth stitching (recto). Details of the damage are reported on the side [Credit: MuseoinVita biannual journal, 2018]

The wide variety of organic and inorganic materials that comprise a painting, such as canvas, oil, pigments, and varnish, can provide an ideal environment for colonizing bacteria and fungi, increasing the risk for biodegradation. To characterize the microorganisms on one such painting, "Incoronazione della Virgine" by Carlo Bononi, completed in 1620, the authors removed a 4 mm2 section of the painted surface adjacent to a damaged area.

Using a combination of microscopy and microbial culture techniques, the authors identified a variety of microbes which had colonized the painting. They isolated multiple strains of Staphylococcus and Bacillus bacteria as well as filamentous fungi of the Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Alternaria genera.

Bacteria detected on the painting: Samples were collected from the recto (a, b, c) and the verso (d, e, f) of the painting. a) colonies of Staphylococcus spp. on a Mego agar plate; b) the same Staphylococcus spp. viewed by OM after Gram staining (original magnification 100X) and c) by SEM. d) colonies of Bacillus spp. on a TSA agar plate; e) the same Bacillus spp. viewed by OM after Gram staining (original magnification 100X) and f) SEM [Credit: Caselli et al., 2018]

The authors note that some of the 17th century paint pigments used, notably red lac and red and yellow earths, may be nutrient sources for the microbes. They also tested a decontaminating biocompound which contained spores of three Bacillus bacteria and found that these could inhibit growth of both the bacteria and the fungi isolated from the painting.

The authors conclude that a wide range of bacterial and fungal species may inhabit such ancient paintings, but biocompounds potentially represent a novel approach for preserving works of art at risk of biodegradation.

The authors add: "Clarification of biotederioration processes in artworks is important, as it could help in preventing or solving the associated damages. This study investigated such aspects in a 17th century painting, by analyzing both microbial communities and chemical composition of painting, also evaluating a possible biological way to counteract these phenomena."

Source: PLOS [December 05, 2018]

The ancient Greek Statue of a Victorious Youth by fabled sculptor Lysippos belongs to Italy, the supreme Cassation Court said Tuesday, saying the Getty Museum in California must hand it back.

The disputed 'Statue of a Victorious Youth', 300–100 BC  [Credit: Dave & Margie Hill/WikiCommons]

The top court rejected an appeal by the US museum against a Pesaro judge's order to confiscate the fourth-century BC bronze statue.

"The Lysippos (as it is known in Italy) must return to Italy, it's the last word from Italian justice," Pesaro prosecutor Silvia Cecchi told ANSA after the long legal battle.

Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli told ANSA "now we hope the US authorities will act as soon as possible to favour the restitution of the Lysippos to Italy".

He said he was happy that "this judicial process has finally ended and the right to recover an extremely important testimony of our heritage has been recognised.

"Let's hope the statue can soon return to be admired in our museums".

But the Getty said in a statement that "we will continue to defend our right to the Lysippos.

"The law and the facts do not justify the restitution to the Italian government of a sculpture that has been exhibited to the public in Los Angeles for almost half a century". In June the Pesaro prosecutors announced that the order issued to seize the statue for years disputed by Italy and the Getty Museum in Malibu was "immediately executive".

"The Lysippos statue must return to Italy," prosecutors told ANSA, accompanied by Tristano Tonnini, the lawyer for the association "Cento Citta'", which has been fighting the legal battle for 11 years.

"We expect politicians to play their part," they said.

The Italian judge rejected an appeal by the Getty Museum, ruling that the fourth-century BC Greek statue - known as Lysippos or Lysippus after its creator and fished out of the sea off Pesaro in 1964 - must be seized wherever in the world it is.

Commonly referred to as the Getty Bronze and formally named Statue of a Victorious Youth, the statue is one of the best-known works in the Los Angeles-based museum.

The Lysippos has been contested ever since the Getty bought it for almost four million dollars in 1977 from German art dealer Herman Heinz Herzer, paying nearly 800 times the $5,600 that Italian dealers paid the fishermen for it in 1964.

Italy has long claimed the statue was smuggled out of the country and has demanded that the Getty hand it back.

Lawyer Tonnini said he was satisfied by the judge's ruling, but said he is also convinced that "the California museum always knew that it was buying a smuggled and illegally exported artifact".

Pesaro prosecutor Cristina Tedeschini said she expected a favourable ruling from the Court of Cassation.

"But the fact is that three different judges have reaffirmed that the statue belongs to the Italian state and that it must be given back," Tedeschini said.

In November 2007, a court in Fano, near Pesaro, cleared the Getty Museum of wrongdoing in the case.

But prosecutor Silvia Cecchi said the judge "affirmed that the statue was taken in Italian national waters and therefore belongs to Italy," which has been the sustained argument since 2007 to get the statue back.

"It must be very clear that the order is immediately executive and we will apply this principle by notifying the American authorities," Cecchi said.

The Getty said it would lodge an appeal at the Cassation Court to "defend our rights".

Source: ANSA [December 04, 2018]

Sewerage works in Muro Leccese, a small town in the province of Lecce, in the Apulia region of south-east Italy, led to the discovery of an intact Messapian tomb containing the remains of several children and their funerary goods.

Credit: Salento Archeologico

According to archaeologists Oda Calvaruso and Francesco Meo from the University of Salento, the tomb dates from the Hellenistic period, between the fourth and third centuries BC.

"This is the first time that such a deposit has been discovered with vases, bowls, toys and feeding bottles, still intact", said the archaeologists.

"It is an invaluable discovery because it was found in an area of the ancient necropolis and testifies to the importance of Muro Leccese in the Messapian era."

Source: Salento Metropoli [December 01, 2018]

Supported throughout by the British School at Rome the team - drawn from Newcastle University, UK, the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums - have been able to bring the splendour of successive transformations of the ancient city to life.

Research beneath the Archbasilica of St John Lateran has revealed the appearance of world's first cathedral and the remarkable transformations that preceded its construction. A team of archaeologists from Newcastle University,UK, the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums, have worked far beneath the streets of Rome  to piece together a pivotal moment in the history of the eternal city [Credit: The Lateran Project]

The church, the Pope's own cathedral, was originally built in the 4th century AD by Constantine - the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Positioned on the Caelian Hill, the church would have dominated the Roman skyline at the time.

As research reveals, however, the site had already been in use for centuries. To build his magnificent cathedral, Constantine had swept away the Castra Nova (New Fort), the lavish headquarters of the imperial horseguard constructed over a century before by the Emperor Septimius Severus. In much the same way, Severus had previously destroyed the palatial houses of some of Rome's most powerful residents to make way for the horseguards' impressive new home.

This ongoing process of construction on the site meant that over hundreds of years layers of Roman history were laid down, much of it reflecting the changing fortunes and priorities of the Empire.

Working far beneath the modern streets of Rome, the team on the Lateran Project have brought to life the first ever holistic picture of hundreds of years of Roman history by using digital mapping, ground penetrating radar and 3D visualisation techniques.

Working with some of the world's leading visualisation specialists, the team has reconstructed the splendour of the buildings. It is one of the first projects in the world to have used terrestrial laser-scanning over such a large area to drive archaeological research.

Research beneath the Archbasilica of St John Lateran has revealed the hidden history of the world's first cathedral and the remarkable transformations that preceded its construction. A team of archaeologists from Newcastle University, UK, the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums, have worked far beneath the streets of Rome  to piece together a pivotal moment in the history of the eternal city. To build his 4th century cathedral, To build his magnificent cathedral, Constantine swept away the Castra Nova (New Fort), the lavish headquarters of the imperial horseguards constructed over a century before by the Emperor Septimius Severus [Credit: The Lateran Project]

The work has also permitted study of how the different buildings that occupied the site evolved, how different elements relate to one another and has given a sense of the scale the four-hectare site covers.

The work carried out by the Lateran Project is featured in the latest edition of Current World Archaeology. Talking exclusively to the publication, Professor Ian Haynes, Co-Director of the Lateran Project and Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle University, UK, said: "There is a large area of space underneath the Lateran that it is possible to walk or crawl through.

"The archaeology is at varying levels below - at the deepest we were 8.5m below modern ground surface. To access some of the spaces we worked with a group called Roma Sotteranea who specialise in working on buried sites and use exactly the same equipment and techniques as potholers. In some places, it was necessary to rotate the teams on a half hourly basis because otherwise it just becomes stifling."

The construction of the cathedral was a pivotal moment marking the start of the major Christian buildings that came to define Rome and is a potent symbol of the military making way for religion.

In AD312 Constantine's army fought the Battle of Milvian Bridge, after which the old Horse Guards base and several nearby buildings were destroyed. The land was given to the Church and provided the perfect spot for Constantine to set out his new vision for Rome.

Research beneath the Archbasilica of St John Lateran has revealed the hidden history of the world's first cathedral and the remarkable transformations that preceded its construction. A team of archaeologists from Newcastle University, UK,  the universities of Florence and Amsterdam and the Vatican Museums, have worked far beneath the streets of Rome to  piece together a pivotal moment in the history of the eternal city. Using innovative 3D mapping and visualisation tools, the Lateran Project team have brought to life the first ever holistic picture of hundreds of years of Roman history [Credit: The Lateran Project]

Professor Haynes told Current World Archaeology: "The land may have been given to the Church within weeks of the battle. A decision was certainly taken pretty soon afterwards and work on the Lateran started some years before it did on St Peter's.

"The cathedral was rebuilt in the 1650s but there is still original Constantine fabric in the walls, while the original foundations are exposed beneath the church.

"There have been various efforts to reconstruct it since then, so we wanted to pull together all of this information to create a digital cathedral that you can walk around.

"Working with colleagues at the University of Amsterdam and Newcastle-based visualisation specialists, New Visions, we've incorporated information from earlier excavations. We also created a simpler model to test the acoustics and to try to understand how sounds would have worked in the basilica."

Source: Newcastle University [November 27, 2018]