Through the Looking Glass: Technological Characterization of Roman Glasses Mimicking Precious Stones from the Gorga Collection (Museo Nazionale Romano—Palazzo Altemps)

Author:

Di Febo Roberta1ORCID,Casas Lluís1ORCID,Silvestri Alberta2ORCID,del Campo Ángel Adolfo3,Vallcorba Oriol4ORCID,Queralt Ignasi5ORCID,Oró Judith6,Villa Mario6ORCID,Gàzquez Jaume6,Rius Jordi6,Giobbe Chiara7ORCID,Bandini Giovanna8

Affiliation:

1. Departament de Geologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Edifici C, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

2. Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università Degli Studi di Padova, via G. Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy

3. Departamento de Electrocerámica, Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio (CSIC), 28049 Madrid, Spain

4. ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, 08290 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

5. Department of Geosciences, Institut of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

6. Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

7. Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps, via di S. Apollinare 8, 00186 Rome, Italy

8. Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme di Diocleziano, Viale Enrico de Nicola 78, 00185 Rome, Italy

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed technological characterization of the Roman opus sectile glasses (second century AD) coming from the renowned Gorga collection. Nine glass samples corresponding to imitations of the porfido verde antico, cipollino rosso, rosso antico, giallo antico, diaspro nero e giallo, semesanto and agate/alabaster stones were studied. The aim of this study was twofold: (i) archaeometric, i.e., to provide valuable data on the production, raw materials and techniques of these refined Roman glasses that mimic precious stones and (ii) methodological, i.e., to highlight the good performance of combining polished thin sections and local probe measurements for the study of glassy microstructures. Based on the nature of the flux used, the glasses from the samples were classified as either natron-type or mixed-type (natron/plant ash). The latter stem from remelted glasses and contain relict grains of wollastonite that were not found in the pure natron samples. Relict wollastonite crystals appear to be a proficient petrographic marker to spot recycled glasses along with the commonly used chemical fingerprints. Different production and colouring techniques were identified, even for a given type of imitated stone. Metallic Cu, Ca antimonates and Pb-Fe antimonates were the three opacifiers used for the opaque glasses. Based on the crystal morphologies, metallic Cu and Ca antimoniates were possibly synthesized in situ simultaneously with the glass, whilst the Pb-Fe antimonates were prepared ex situ. The working temperatures for these glasses were estimated within the 900–1100 °C range based on the presence and known thermal stability of some identified crystal phases.

Funder

Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

Spanish Ministry of Economía, Industria y Competitividad

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Geology,Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology

Cited by 1 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3