Spectroscopic Analysis to Characterize Finishing Treatments of Ancient Bowed String Instruments

What is it about?

This paper deals with spectroscopic (non invasive and micro-destructive) analysis in order to characterize the materials of several fragments from historic Italian stringed musical instruments. The scientific importance of this research lies in the opportunity to highlight, by a spectroscopic analytical procedure, different construction techniques used by five important violin makers since 17th to 18th centuries in Cremona (Northern Italy). Moreover, some samples were taken from the fragments and the cross sections were studied by microscopic techniques and characterized by µFTIR spectroscopic analysis with diamond cell, X ray Fluorescence and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX).

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