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Original and restored materials revealed by contactless and micro-invasive methods of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry “Mon seul désir”

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Abstract

The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry, supposedly manufactured at the end of the fifteenth century, was acquired in 1882 by the National Museum of Middle Ages, Musée de Cluny, in Paris (France). Since their acquisition, these six tapestries have undergone over a dozen restoration campaigns. The invasive action of some of these restoration treatments has contributed to the degradation, which is still visible today. This study focused on Mon seul désir tapestry. The aim was to understand better the restorations, particularly the materials used (fibres and dyes), and to discriminate them from the original medieval ones. The analyses were performed using contactless methods (optical microscopy, hyperspectral imaging [VNIR (400 to 1000 nm) and SWIR (1000 to 2500 nm)] and fluorimetry). A database of reference materials was built to interpret the spectra obtained on the old tapestry. The Myrobolan workshop made a colour chart according to the recipes described in ancient books to facilitate the identification of the dyes. Natural and synthetic dyes were fixed on wool to measure reflectance and fluorescence spectra to constitute a specific database. The restoration zones were mapped in the tapestry thanks to the chemical difference in the materials. The analyses showed wool in the restoration areas and the presence of silk thread to fix the lining. For the red dyes, madder was detected in both medieval and 1889’s restored areas, but cochineal and weld were only found in the latter. A mixture of weld and indigotin was identified in both green areas (medieval and 1889’s restoration) but in a different state of degradation. HPLC–UV–VIS analyses validated the identification of the dyes in both zones. If the same molecules seemed to have been used in both areas, their combination and the weaving were revealed to be different. A chiné technique was employed to approach the colour of the medieval area. Moreover, a different red dye (alizarin) was detected in a more recent restoration area of the tapestry. These new results contributed to further knowledge of this precious tapestry.

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Data Availability Statement

This manuscript has associated data in a data repository. [Authors’ comment: All data included in this manuscript are available upon request by contacting with the corresponding author.]

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Béatrice de Chancel-Bardelot, curator at the time of this study of the Musée de Cluny in Paris, for authorizing access to the collection. Thanks to the Musée des Abattoirs in Toulouse for their welcome during the analysis campaign. Many thanks to Charlotte Marembert for exchanges and initiation to dyeing during the colour chart sample creation. We are also grateful to Emmanuel Pénicaut, curator at the Mobilier National and Manufactures Nationals, for the access to the dyeing and restoration workshops of the Manufactures des Gobelins, as well as to all his team. Thanks to the Archives Nationales for their welcoming and enabling us to consult the different sources. The authors would also like to sincerely thank Raphaëlle Déjean and Thalia Bajon-Bouzid, private textile conservators-restorers, for their help and availability for this study. We want to thank Francesca Galluzzi for her help and encouragement. Finally, this study received financial support from the French government in the framework of the University of Bordeaux’s IdEx “Investments for the Future” program/GPR Human Past.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Archéosciences Bordeaux (UMR 6034 CNRS - UBM), Maison de l’archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, 33607, Pessac Cedex, France

    Pauline Claisse, Hortense de La Codre, Floréal Daniel, Rémy Chapoulie & Aurélie Mounier

  2. Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques (CRC, UAR 3224, MC-MNHN-CNRS), 29 rue de Paris, 77420, Champs-Sur-Marne, France

    Pauline Claisse, Witold Nowik & Mohamed Dallel

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  1. Pauline Claisse
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Claisse, P., de La Codre, H., Nowik, W. et al. Original and restored materials revealed by contactless and micro-invasive methods of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry “Mon seul désir”. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 138, 832 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04435-x

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