Application: The Stories of St. Stephen and St. John the Baptist

Application of the methodology will provide an opportunity to verify and illustrate its validity and its direct implications for wall painting conservation. Working closely with conservators, the project team will use the methodology to address wall painting conservation problems related to organic material present in paintings.

Noninvasive research work began in spring 2005 on the wall paintings cycle of The Stories of St. Stephen and St. John the Baptist (painted in the 15th century by Filippo Lippi in the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Prato), in conjunction with a conservation project being carried out under the supervision of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage. The conservation work (under the direction of Mark Gittins of the conservation firm Conservazione Beni Culturali) has been ongoing since spring 2001. The paintings have a complicated conservation history—the current conservation effort is the third in the past century. The Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, a project partner, has been responsible for the project's diagnostic investigations. The team's work on the Lippi cycle complements research already conducted at the site during conservation. The scientific work at this site, along with the conservation work, was completed in 2006.

The team continues to reasearch other potential case study sites where the project guidelines can be applied from the beginning of a conservation program to support conservation treatment planning. Research work will include the integration of the various techniques that can address questions from conservators, as well as questions that require knowledge of the organic materials present in the wall. In addition, it is hoped that this work will provide an opportunity for better understanding of the original binding materials used in the paintings. This information is important not only to enrich the field's scant knowledge about the use of organic materials in wall paintings but also to provide support information for future studies of paintings by the same artist or paintings from a similar period.

Not all investigative techniques tested in the first phase will be applied to the case studies. Only those deemed appropriate, based on ongoing study and the needs of the wall paintings, will be employed. The case studies aim to demonstrate the iterative nature of scientific investigation and the essential role the conservator plays in the practical application of conservation science.