Archaeometric study on Apulian red figure vases of Intesa Sanpaolo collection

An archaeometric study on Apulian red figure pottery from the collection “Giuseppe and Francesco Caputi”, composed of vases recovered between 1830 and 1860 in Ruvo di Puglia (Central Apulia), has been carried out. Nowadays, the collected artworks are owned by Intesa Sanpaolo and exhibited in Vicenza (Italy) at Gallerie d'Italia. The aim of the research was identifying the provenance of the raw materials and the production technology used. In particular, vases stylistically attributed to Pittore di Baltimora, Pittore della Patera, Pittore di Licurgo and workshop of Pittore di Dario and Pittore dell’Oltretomba have been analyzed. A chemical-mineralogical characterization of ceramic bodies by ICP-MS, MO, SEM-EDS and XRD analyses has been performed. As regards the chemical analyses, a few micrograms of clay scraped off from hidden areas of the vases - inside or under the base - has been carried out using a method that does not damage the archaeological vases already exposed and valued in museum contexts, whereas, for the minero-petrographic analyses performed by OM, SEM-EDS and XRD, slivers of few square millimeters wide have been removed from pre-existing vase cracks. Also, a statistical multivariate analysis has been performed on the chemical compositional data: vases from the collection, red figure pottery certainly coming from Apulia and material attributed to the same painter or workshops. The overall results made it possible to hypothesize the production centers of the findings. Moreover, defining the mineralogical composition of the archaeological materials made it possible to answer to technological questions relating to ancient ceramic's production processes and potential changes in manufacturing techniques (the firing temperature, the duration of the process, the red/ox atmosphere in kilns, etc), as well as reconstruct XIX cent. AD restoration actions of the red figure samples analyzed