I am a Professor in the Department of Conservation, that unites Easel Painting and Wall Painting Conservation with transdisplinary research on preventive conservation, technical art history, conservation science and conservation practice. My research focuses on the conservation and analysis of paintings, ancient and modern art on walls, easels and on paper and ranges from Ìýto the analysis ofÌýÌýand the analysis of red pigments fromÌý. Recent research also identified egg binders inÌý, the second oldest example of organic binding media in western paintings.
I am a conservator and conservation scientist and joined The Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2020 as Head of Department, a role I held until 2024. Prior to joining The Â鶹ÊÓƵ I coordinated the MA degree in conservation at the University of Gothenburg and taught at the Accademia di Brera in Milan. Between 2011-2019 I was a Researcher at the Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie (IFN) in Milan, part of the Italian National Research Council. I completed post doctoral research at the Department of Physics at the Politecnico di Milano on applications of time resolved fluorescence spectroscopy to cultural heritage, and at The Â鶹ÊÓƵ as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, where I led the . BetweenÌý2004-2007ÌýI was a Marie Curie Early Stage Research Fellow at the Foundation for Research and Technology (IESL-FORTH) in Greece.
Following a degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford (2001), I obtained an MA in the Conservation of Wall Painting (2004) and a PhD at The Â鶹ÊÓƵ (2008). My training at The Â鶹ÊÓƵ has been the foundation for my vision that is inclusive and international, and based on shared values, scientific research and conservation practice.
I am a Vice President and Fellow of theÌý and have chaired the Technical Committees for the Edinburgh (2020), Turin (2018), Los Angeles (2016) and Hong Kong (2014) Congresses. I also served as the Coordinator of the Scientific Research working group of ICOM-CC from 2011-2014, and serve on the International Advisory Board for the Conservation of Gelati. I am an Editor of Ìýand of theÌý
Research Interests
- Conservation and Heritage Science: applications of spectroscopy for the analysis of molecular materials in paintings and tracking degradation of pigments and polymers, from kermes lakes in Italian wall paintings to cadmium sulphide degradation in modern art
- Pigment synthesis and chemistry: historical recipes and trace impurities
- Digital humanities: linking conservation documentation and results from technical analysis for interdisciplinary research, from dispersed altarpieces to comparative technical study
- Conservation practice: critical assessment of wall painting conservation in Sweden (funded by the Swedish National Heritage Board)
PhD Supervision
Current supervision
T. Klowden,ÌýInterconnected Identities: Alonso Sánchez Coello, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Portraiture in the Court of Philip II of Spain,Ìýco-supervised with Guido Rebecchini
L. Artemis,ÌýConnecting Skins: With specific focus on the Winchester, Bury, Lambeth and Maidstone Bibles. The use of visual assessment and biomolecular analyses techniques to potentially reveal manuscript production links from beast to craft between the parchments used to create Romanesque Giant Display Bibles in Britain and Ireland.
Completed PhD Supervision
R. De Angelis,ÌýThe Technology of Baroque Oil-Based Wall Paintings in Malta: Materials and Implications for Conservation supervised with JoAnn Cassar, University of Malta
A. Källbom,ÌýPainting Treatments of Weather Exposed Ferrous Heritage. Guidance Principles and Working Procedures Considering Material Characteristics and Craft Skills of Linseed Oils and PaintsÌýsupervised with Gunnar Almevik and Maria Brunskog University of Gothenburg, 2021
E. Angelin,ÌýThe fate of colours in 20th-21st centuries: preserving the organic colorants in plastic artefacts (provisional title) supervised with Maria Joao Melo and Marcello Piccolo, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2021
Major Grants
- GoGreen:Green Strategies to Conserve the Past and Preserve the Future of Cultural Heritage, ERC Horizion 2022 Project 2022-2026, coordinated by the Univeristy of Amsterdam
- National Wall Painting Intitiave funded by the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art and the Pilgrim Trust
- AHRC Capability for Collections Fund for the upgrading of scientific instrumentation in Conservation at The Â鶹ÊÓƵ, £1M
- Swedish National Heritage Board (RAA):ÌýÌý2020-2021
- Grant for collaborative research between the Italian National Research Council and the Chinese Academy of Cultural HeritageÌý2015-2018
- Bilateral grant for collaborative research between Italy and the USA with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from the Italian Ministry of Foreign AffairsÌý2014-2016
- Italian Ministry of Education – Futuro in Ricerca:ÌýÌý2013-2016
Recent Publications
- ÌýPierre Bonnard’s Oil on Cardboard: A Comparative Â鶹ÊÓƵ of Two Paintings at the Gothenburg Museum of Art,ÌýJournal of Paper Conservation (2023) ,Ìýhttps://doi.org/
- Gomez Lobon, M., Ghirardello, M., Juncosa Darder, E.Ìýet al.ÌýA study of cadmium yellow paints from Joan Miró’s paintings and studio materials preserved at the Fundació Miró Mallorca.ÌýHerit SciÌý11, 145 (2023).
- Tong, Y., Cai, Y., Nevin, A.Ìýet al.ÌýDigital technology virtual restoration of the colours and textures of polychrome Bodhidharma statue from the Lingyan Temple, Shandong, China.ÌýHerit SciÌý11, 12 (2023).
- Marta GhirardelloÌý, Application of Synchrotron Radiation-Based Micro-Analysis on Cadmium Yellows in Pablo Picasso’sÌýFemme,ÌýMicroscopy and Microanalysis, Volume 28, Issue 5, 1 October 2022, Pages 1504–1513,Ìý
Publications in preparation
- Molecular Luminescence in Cultural Heritage,Ìýedited by M. J. Melo, A. Romani, D. Comelli and A. Nevin, Springer Series on Fluorescence, 2022
Editorial boards
Studies in Conservation, Springer Cultural Heritage Science