Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480

DOI 10.1007/s13369-014-0992-z
RESEARCH ARTICLE - CIVIL ENGINEERING
Non-Destructive Testing Techniques to Help the Restoration
of Frescoes
S. Sfarra C. Ibarra-Castanedo D. Ambrosini
D. Paoletti A. Bendada X. Maldague
Received: 21 May 2012 / Accepted: 15 February 2013 / Published online: 6 March 2014
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals 2014
Abstract Among the several issues to be considered during
frescos restoration, the understanding of the effectiveness
of the intervention, the identication of the main chemical
elements used in previous restorations and the attention to
weak areas of the building structure, adjacent to frescoes,
are of paramount importance. This work describes an inte-
grated, non-destructive testing approach focusing on these
three main issues. In particular, two frescoes of Giacomo
Farelli are analyzed herein. These artworks were affected by
a strong earthquake in 2009, which had a heavy impact on
several cultural heritage objects in LAquila (Italy), including
on the Santa Maria della Croce di Roio Church (1625), where
these two frescoes are located. One of the frescoes, which
underwent a restoringbefore the quake, was previouslytested
by electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) before
and after the restoration. These previous results are compared
with newmeasurements carried out after the 2009 earthquake
using infrared thermography (IRT). The combined approach,
ESPI-IRT, clearly highlighted that the structure of the fres-
coes was signicantly affected by the earthquake, since the
old subsurface cracks, restored before 2009, were once again
evident after the earthquake. In addition, the presence of a
subsurface niche containing an ancient statue, also detected
by means of IRT, might contribute to increase the severity of
the damages. Finally, the joint examination of these frescoes
S. Sfarra (B) D. Ambrosini D. Paoletti
Las.E.R. Laboratory, Department of Industrial and Information
Engineering and Economics (DIIIE), University of LAquila,
Piazzale E. Pontieri 1, Monteluco di Roio,
67100 LAquila (AQ), Italy
e-mail: stefano.sfarra@univaq.it
C. Ibarra-Castanedo A. Bendada X. Maldague
Computer Vision and Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering, Laval University, 1065, av.de la Mdecine,
G1V 0A6, Quebec QC, Canada
using near-infrared reectography and X-ray diffractometry
was crucial to conrmthe presence of a radioactive chemical
element in the wall painting.
Keywords Electronic speckle pattern interferometry
(ESPI) Infrared thermography (IRT) Near-infrared (NIR)
reectography Fresco Earthquake Restoration
1 Introduction
The aging process in a work of art can have different effects
depending on several factors such as the original materi-
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3462 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
als, the surrounding environmental conditions and, above
all, on poorly performed restorations or even on restora-
tions that were adequately accomplished. In particular, the
surface of frescoes, interacting with the environment, can be
modied over time. Temperature and humidity variations can
cause the appearance of micro-cracks or anomalous strains
inside the structure itself. Air pollutants lead to biological
and chemical processes, which, in conjunction with some
atmospheric physical parameters, can cause a deterioration
of materials [1].
The life span of frescoes strongly depends on the condi-
tion of the wall as well, the most important aspects to be
considered being structural stability, moisture, and acidity.
Many causes may decrease the wall load-bearing capacity.
Regarding the structure, distinctions should be made
between cracks due to poor foundations and insufciently
strong structural elements, or to some external factors such
as war, re, or excessive loads (e.g., an earthquake). In a sim-
plied way, defective foundations, disturbed load transfers,
and insufcient cohesion are the main causes of structural
instability. Defective foundations and disturbed load transfer
may lead to cracks that, in the worst case, continue to grow
resulting in the eventual collapse of the building. In case
of insufcient cohesion, the structure will exhibit numerous
hairline cracks caused by slight differences in settling, ther-
mal loads, or other factors [2].
The monitoring of infrastructures with respect to integrity
and stability, as well as the detection of damages, gives rise to
a specic eld of Engineering, namely structural health mon-
itoring (SHM), which is widely treated in literature [312].
When dealing with historical buildings, SHM can be a
daunting task [13] because of the lack of information, pos-
sible high costs and the many constraints imposed by the
conservation issues and the architecture itself.
Wall paintings are extremely complex artworks since they
are an integral part of buildings and their conservation is
strictly linked to the monument and to the complex interac-
tion between outdoor and indoor conditions; therefore, fresco
diagnostics needs to be performed in situ. Moreover, wall
paintings are very heterogeneous and cover large surfaces.
All the above remarks make the investigation of real fres-
coes a difcult task.
In frescoes diagnostic literature, much work has been
devoted to pigment analysis as well as to the chemical and/or
biological study of the fresco surface. A relatively smaller
attention has been given to the structural diagnostics of wall
paintings. At present, this mainly relies on visual inspection
(both in normal and raking light) and on the so-called tap-
ping technique, an empirical method in which the restorer
knocks on the surface and then listens to the different pitches
of sound. The tapping, though useful in many cases, has how-
ever important drawbacks: fullybasedonthe restorers exper-
tise, it has poor repeatability and high costs. Furthermore, it
is time consuming and cannot be easily applied to produce a
full documented record of the diagnostics results.
Attempts to translate the tapping technique to a more sys-
tematic procedure have been made since the 1990s [14].
This acoustic approach led to the introduction of the laser
Doppler vibrometer technique [1519] and of a new method
based on the measurement of absorbed acoustic energy [20].
Optical methods, based on holographic interferometry,
have been widely applied as diagnostic tools in the conser-
vation eld [21]. These methods provide precise information
about the localization and size of a great variety of defects;
however, their use can be difcult for non-optically skilled
operators and/or in routine inspections. Often holographic
interferometry techniques are too complex and expensive for
routine use, moreover, the mechanical stability required to
perform the measurements is a heavy constraint. Therefore,
holographic interferometry is not suitable for in situ diagnos-
tics (unless pulsed lasers are used), which is usually the case
when dealing with frescoes.
Many shortcomings of holographic interferometry can
be overcome, at the expense of a slight decrease in sen-
sitivity and image quality, introducing optical techniques
such as electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI),
speckle decorrelation and shearography [2224]. These new
techniques are simple, portable, safe, and easy to use by
non-specialists for routine in situ inspections. Recently, a
new method, called mirror micrometry, capable of detect-
ing fresco surface displacement in the m range [25] and
terahertz spectroscopic imaging for the evaluation of under-
drawings and paint layers embedded within the wall [26],
were proposed.
Generally speaking, each technique has its own advan-
tages and disadvantages, however, the drawbacks of a sin-
gle diagnostic technique can be partially overcome by inte-
gration; therefore, the combination of different techniques,
sometimes in the same portable equipment, is now largely
used.
In this paper, an integrated approach is proposed for the
examination of wall paintings based on traditional (visual
inspection, tapping, NIR, XRD) as well as innovative (ESPI,
IRT) techniques. The use of different methods and instru-
ments, as well as the integration of the techniques, is also
reported. Emphasis is given to extending monitoring to the
structure considering not only the wall paintings, but also the
surrounding structures.
New results can be achieved using nowadays traditional
techniques performed with new performance and character-
istics such as high resolution, portability and versatility. The
results obtained could be arranged, if integrated into a multi-
disciplinary approach, to dene and design the conservation
and the restoration of the work.
The case of Giacomo Farelli fresco The discovery of the
Statue of Our Lady in the Santa Maria della Croce di Roio
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3463
Fig. 1 a Fresco: The discovery of the Statue of Our Lady by G. Farelli (1667) before the restoration of 1994, b Fresco: The episode of mares
knees supposedly painted by G. Farelli (1667)
Church, is unique in its kind because it combines problems
of structural instability, identied as insufcient cohesion
between the fresco layers during the restoration performed in
1994, with an excessive mechanical load induced by the 2009
earthquake, which reopened the previously restored cracks.
The correlation between the thermographic results after
the earthquake, and the ESPI measurements, before the 1994
restoration, is very important.
The non-destructive testing by ESPI after the restoration
conrms the good results obtained only in the immediacy of
the intervention. The structural instability previously men-
tioned is probably due to a buried architectural structure near
to the fresco and beneath to it, detected by IRT.
Pulsed phase thermography (PPT) and principal compo-
nent thermography (PCT) algorithms also allowed to detect
some new cracks due to the earthquake mechanical stress,
conrmed by NIR both on The discovery of the Statue of
Our Lady and on The episode of mares knees frescoes.
The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Croce was built in
1625, as an extension of a small chapel dedicated to St.
Leonard (1221).
The interior of the new Church, in the Baroque style,
remained unnished for several years and the faade was
completed only in 1673.
The friendship between the city of LAquila and Naples
allowed an extensive exchange of artists that brought in
LAquila inuences from the Neapolitan school, including
the Maestro Andrea Vaccaro (15981670), whose pupil was
Giacomo Farelli, active in LAquila since the second half of
the seventeenth century [2729].
In 1667, Farelli executed two frescoes on the sides of the
main altar depicting the two highlights of the Virgin Statue
presence in the place where previously, as already mentioned,
there was a chapel.
Figure 1a represents the discovery of the Statue in a niche
of the Three Saints Wood in Ruvo di Puglia, while Fig. 1b
represents the effort made by farmers to lift up the mare.
The frescoes, which have a surface of approximately 5 m
2
,
were probably made using the typical technique at Farellis
time, known as the buon fresco [30]. Detailed explanations
about this construction technique are given in the next sec-
tion.
The fresco in Fig. 1a has been tested by ESPI, IRT, NIR
and X-ray diffractometer methods, while the fresco in Fig.
1b was inspected only by thermographic and reectographic
methods.
Figure 2a, b shows, respectively, a niche before and after
the 2009 earthquake. As will be seen in Fig. 19, the void
Fig. 2 a Niche: before the 2009 LAquila Earthquake, b Niche: after
the 2009 LAquila Earthquake
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3464 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
containing a statue discovered during the initial restoration
(near the fresco shown in Fig. 1a) had been identied prior
to the earthquake by IRT.
2 Masonry Cracking and Technical Execution
of the Frescoes Analyzed
Stone masonry is a traditional formof construction practiced
for centuries in the regions where stone is locally available. It
is still found in old historic centers, often in buildings of cul-
tural and historical importance, and in developing countries
where it represents an affordable and cost-effective housing
construction. This construction type is present in earthquake-
prone regions of the world, such as Mediterranean Europe
and North Africa, the Middle East, India, Nepal, and other
parts of Asia. The World Housing Encyclopedia contains
nine reports describing stone masonry housing construction
practices. The reference in Italy is WHE Report 28 and for
the area studied in this work the structural walls are made of
the following: (a) rubble stone in mud/lime mortar or even
without mortar, (b) two exterior wythes of larger stones with
rubble inll in mud/lime mortar, often without through stones
that should connect the exterior wythes [3133].
The most important factors affecting the seismic perfor-
mance of these construction typologies are: (a) the strength
of the stone and mortar, (b) the quality of construction, (c) the
density and distribution of structural walls, (d) wall intersec-
tions and oor/roof-wall connections. Stone masonry con-
struction frequently shows poor seismic performance. Poor
quality of mortar is the main reason for the low tensile
strength of rubble stone masonry. Timber oor and roof struc-
tures are usuallynot heavyand, therefore, donot include large
seismic forces. However, typical oor structures are made of
timber joists that are not properly connected to structural
walls. An evidence of this type of structure that was installed
below the fresco named The episode of mares knees to
support it, is reported in Sect. 6. These structures are rather
exible and are not able to act as rigid diaphragms. Due to
their large thickness, stone masonry walls are rather heavy
and induce signicant seismic forces.
Delamination and disintegration of the masonry are dam-
age patterns typical for walls built with two exterior wythes
and rubble inll in weak mud mortar with many air voids.
Out-of-plane failure canoccur whenthe connections between
the exterior and interior walls are inadequate. When the con-
nections between the perpendicular walls are strong, the wall
shear capacity can be exhausted, thus causing typical shear
cracks to develop [3437].
Since the stone wall can be considered as the rst and inner
layer in a fresco painting, and in the conservation purposes
the knowledge of incipient and invisible aws, as well as the
understanding of how the presence of the support cracks or
discontinuities alter the movements of the painted surface
are key points in the restoration eld, both frescoes were
inspected by IR thermography in the front and rear part [38].
Cracking encompasses relatively narrow ssures 0.04
1.27 cm in masonry units, mortar, or grout alone or in
any combination. It may be caused by a variety of condi-
tions, such as improper material choices (primarily the wrong
masonry unit/mortar combination), wrong eld installation
(plugged weep holes or hinged/slide masonry anchors loaded
with mortar to the point of impairing the free movement),
oversized anchors, structural settlement, etc [39, 40].
Cracking is the most common and most visible form of
cladding problem, in a range encompassing everything from
cosmetic defects to total failure. Sometimes the location, ori-
entation and formof the crack give an indication of the cause
of the failure. Masonry deterioration may start from some-
thing as insignicant as small cracks in some of the individual
units (often a minor esthetical rather than structural prob-
lem), then progresses through cycles of thermal movement
alone, or in combination with freezing and thawing cycles,
to wider cracks over a larger area or through cycling loads,
which sooner or later may become structurally signicant,
especially if not mapped and monitored early in the process
[41, 42].
Taking into account these considerations, the cracks that
afict the interior of the Church were totally mapped after
the 2009 earthquake (Fig. 3).
Historical notes on the frescoes analyzed in this work were
found reading two ancient books written by hand [43, 44].
Although in this case the main cause of the cracks forma-
tion on the frescoes was due to structural instability and archi-
tectural buried structures, it is important to provide details
about the technical execution of the buon fresco to understand
that this type of artworks must be considered as a composite
material (Fig. 4).
Lime putty is the main ingredient of the buon fresco paint-
ing. Preparation of painting surfaces for fresco involves the
applications of plaster of increasingly ner texture. The rst
step is the heating (calcinations) of the limestone (calcium
carbonate, CaCO
3
) at 800900

C to make porous lime (cal-

cium oxide, CaO). Excess water acts as a lubricant so that
the crystals slide easily over one another [45].
Historically, lime was slaked in pits or troughs over a
period of at least six months to obtain lime putty of the
desired consistency. Artisans in Michelangelos time used
plaster aged for as long as ten years. Fresco plaster itself is
made from slaked lime and varying portions of sand or mar-
ble dust. Generally, walls are plastered with several layers of
such fresco plaster to decrease the proportions and particle
size of sand.
Hardeningof the frescoplaster onthe wall includes several
simultaneous physical and chemical processes: the absorp-
tion of water into the wall, evaporation of water from the
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3465
Fig. 3 Cracks map of the Santa Maria della Croce di Roio Church, Scale 1:100
Fig. 4 Cross-section of an ancient fresco3D modeling (layers)
surface, and the carbonation of the slaked lime by carbon
dioxide, CO
2
.
Fresco plaster coats are made of high calcium lime putty
andaggregate which, most commonlyis washedriver sand,
marble meal, volcanic tuff or a combination of it. The pro-
portion of the mortar or plaster mix generally is: 1 part of
lime putty and 2 parts of aggregate (sand) or 5 parts of lime
putty and 8 parts of aggregate (sand). The latter was the mix
preferred by Neapolitan school [46].
Washed river sand is the best aggregate for making a fresco
plaster; it is clean from impurities such as silica, dust, clay,
organic particles, and salts. This sand is also most likely to
be of a right angular shape needed for proper interlocking.
Traditionally, there are six distinctive fresco plaster coats
(fromlast to rst): (a) intonaco and intonachino or skimcoat:
nal plaster coat on which the actual painting is done; (b)
sinopia: nal preparatory drawing on the arriccio on which
intonaco is applied. It was normally executed in red ochre;
(c) arriccio or brown coat: smooth, sand nish coat on which
sinopia is applied; (d) oat coat: smooth plaster coat, base for
arriccio coat. This coat is ne leveled and oated with a large
wooden oat. Usually, this would be a conventional stucco;
(e) rough plaster coat made with somewhat coarse sand; (f)
scratch coat: the initial and one of the most important coats.
This coat is applied directly to the wall and then scratched
with tooth edged trowel [30].
3 Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry
A diffusely scattering surface illuminated by laser light
appears covered by a pattern of bright and dark spots, or
speckles, distributed randomly in space. This occurs because
neighboring microscopic elements that constitute the object
surface produce randomdifferences of the optical path for the
scattered light. At any point, therefore, scattered waves arrive
frommany of these elements simultaneously and, as they are
highly correlated, their instantaneous amplitudes add coher-
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3466 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
Fig. 5 ESPIexperimental set
up. BS beam-splitter cube, CD
current driver, H humidity
sensor, IF interference lter, T
temperature sensor, TEC
thermo-electric controller
ently. However, as the phases are randomthey may provide at
any point constructive (bright speckle) as well as destructive
(dark speckle) interference [47].
Considered by the majority of holographers as the stain
of coherent illumination, this annoyance can still provide
information about the surface characteristics as well as its
displacement.
The combinationof the imagedspeckle patternanda refer-
ence wavefront toproduce a phase-referencedspeckle pattern
can be used in a way similar to holographic interferometry.
The idea of linking this speckle interferogram with a TV
camera has the advantage of setting these techniques apart
from holography. The ability to capture images by a video
system combined with enhancements achieved by subse-
quent electronic processing allowed the development of a
new, more efcient method, called ESPI for using in situ.
The ESPI (also called TV-holography) was developed as
a method of producing interferometric data without using
traditional holographic recording techniques [4850]. Prac-
tically, ESPI can be viewed as the combination of hologra-
phy and speckle interferometry, the holographic lm being
replaced by a CCD camera as the recording medium [51].
Obviously, the photosensor of the TV camera is not suit-
able for optical reconstruction of the hologram; therefore,
the reconstruction process is performed electronically and
visualized on a monitor.
The signal picked up by the TV camera is converted into
a corresponding video signal by the camera scanning action.
This video signal is electronically processed through an inter-
mediate recording medium (commonly a frame grabber)
before being displayed on a TV screen, so that the variations
in the texture of the speckles are converted into a variation of
brightness. This image is entirely equivalent to a holographic
reconstructed image and possesses the same interferometric
sensitivity.
In this way, the specklegrams are recorded under ambi-
ent parameters variations. Some irregularities of the corre-
sponding correlation fringes allow to detect the presence of
detachments or cracks.
In this section, only a brief practical description is given
of the portable system used for the measurements; the full
theory is well covered in the literature [29, 52]. Figure 5
schematically shows the experimental conguration for in
situ diagnostics. Other congurations can be retrieved in
literature [5356]. A laser diode (P = 15 mW) is used
as the light source. The laser diode junction is temper-
ature stabilized by a thermo-electric controller. Further-
more, the laser system includes a very low-noise current
driver.
The laser source is coupled to a polarization maintaining
single mode ber.
The laser light emitter by the output end of the optical
ber directly illuminates the surface under investigation. A
small part of the spherical wavefront, caught by a prism,
serves as reference beam. A beam-splitter cube reects the
reference light onto the CCD sensor, where the object image
is focused by an objective lens. An interference lter, cen-
tered at the laser diode wavelength, is introduced in front
of the imaging lens to prevent external light from reaching
the CCD camera. The images captured by the CCD camera
are recorded by a PC-based frame grabber. Besides, the PC
system is equipped with temperature and relative humidity
transducers. The short exposure time (1/30 s) of the ESPI
technique provides a greater stability and tolerance of exter-
nal disturbances with respect to traditional holographic tech-
niques; therefore, the ESPI system can be used outside the
research laboratory [52]. To obtain a good-quality ESPI inter-
ferogram, the system, as well as the surrounding environ-
ment, must remain stable during the exposure time to at least
/8.
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3467
A solution which can mitigate these problems consists of
assembling all components in an optical head mounted on
a high stiffness tripod [57]. However, the effect of residual
relative rigid displacement between the object and the optical
head will be to reduce the fringe contrast, which can be par-
tially recovered by image enhancement techniques, as shown
in this work.
4 Near-Infrared (NIR) Reectography
When exposing a painting to a broad-band light source
(from ultraviolet to the far IR), part of the radiation will
be absorbed by, another fraction of the radiation will be
transmitted through and the rest will be reected from the
incident surface, depending on the radiation wavelength and
the material being radiated. For instance, a visible camera
will capture the light (in the visible spectrum 0.350.75 m)
reected from the painting surface, providing information
about colors and textures. The NIR part of the radiation,
which contains practically no thermal emissions, can pen-
etrate thin layers of painting before being reected back to
the surface from a non-absorbing media such as the prepa-
ration surface (usually made of chalk and gypsum) and will
eventually be absorbed by carbon-based (or other absorbing)
elements, if present. Most of the oil paints used for panel
painting (usually linseed oil with inorganic suspended oxide
or mineral salt pigments) are transparent to NIR light, while
carbon derivatives (graphite and charcoal) are opaque in this
spectral region [58].
The transparency in the NIR band is a complex func-
tion of the optical characteristics of (1) the pigment color
(with brown and gray being in general more transparent
than some light colors, while black is the most opaque),
(2) the underdrawing material, (3) the paint layer thick-
ness (typically a fraction of millimetre), and (4) the detec-
tor wavelength (transparency increases between 1.0 and 2.5
m for different congurations, generally showing a peak
near to 2 m) [5861]. A NIR camera can be used to recon-
struct two-dimensional (2D) images, i.e., reectograms, of
the reected light under the painting layers. Interesting appli-
cations include the detection of guiding sketches and signa-
tures (opaque to NIR radiation) drawn by the artist prior to
the application of painting layers; the detection of hidden
paintings (painters often used a previously painted canvas
or changes their mind during the painting progression), the
monitoring of the restoration processes required on aging
cultural heritage artworks, and the detection of intentional
and unintentional alterations.
Near-infrared reectography has been studied since the
1930s. At the beginning, photographic lms were used.
Although NIR photography works are interesting, restric-
tions on the spectral band (0.70.9 m) and time delays (due
to lm development) limited the wide spread of the tech-
nique (an interesting NIR photography investigation can be
foundin[62]). It was not until the 1960s, after the workof Van
Asperen de Boer, that Vidicon cameras (0.92.0 m) rst and
digital cameras (1.15 m) later began to be used routinely
by many recognized art museums [6366]. The next genera-
tion of NIR reectography systems is the multi-spectral (up
to 14 spectral bands) single-point scanners, which consid-
erably diminish the effects of optical and geometrical non-
uniformities with respect to multi-detectors arrays [59, 67].
The use of modied commercial NIR cameras, with suitable
lenses, lters, and light sources, is still a popular alterna-
tive for artwork inspection given its easiness of operation as
compared to single-point scanners. In this work, a CMOS
camera (Canon 40DH, with a 22.2 14.8 mm sensor10
megapixel resolution and 0.381.0 m spectral sensitivity),
with a visible cut-off lter to limit the spectrum in the range
0.70.9 m was used for reectography inspection.
5 Square Pulse Thermography (SPT)
Active thermography is a well-known NDTtechnique, allow-
ing fast inspection of large surfaces that has been extensively
investigated [68, 69]. Data acquisition is fast and straightfor-
ward, as illustrated in Fig. 6.
A long-wave infrared camera (ThermaCAM S65HS pro-
duced by FLIR, 7.513 m, 320256 pixels) was employed
for thermographic testing.
In the square pulse conguration the specimen surface is
submitted to a long square heat pulse (from a few seconds
to several minutes), and the temperature raise and decay is
registered using an infrared camera and stored as a 3Dmatrix
composed by N thermograms, where x and y are the spatial
coordinates, and t is the time [70, 71].
Square pulse thermography data are generally processed
to improve defect visibility and to perform quantitative char-
acterization of defects. In this paper, we propose to use PCT
and PPT to process SPT data.
5.1 Principal Component Thermography
Singular value decomposition (SVD) is an eigenvector-based
transform that forms an orthonormal space, which is close
to principal component analysis (PCA), with the difference
that SVD simultaneously provides the PCAs in both row and
column spaces. The SVD of an MN matrix A (M>N) can
be calculated as follows [72]:
A = URV
T
(1)
where U is a M N orthogonal matrix, R being a diagonal
N N matrix (with singular values of A present in the diag-
onal), V
T
is the transpose of an N N orthogonal matrix
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3468 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
Fig. 6 Experimental setup for
square pulse thermography
(characteristic time). Hence, to apply the SVD to thermo-
graphic data, the 3D thermogram matrix representing time
and spatial variations has to be reorganized as a 2D M N
matrix A. This can be done by rearranging the thermograms
for every time as columns in A, in such a way that time
variations will occur column-wise while spatial variations
will occur row-wise. Under this conguration, the columns
of U represent a set of orthogonal statistical modes known
as empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) that describe spa-
tial variations of data [73]. The rst EOF will represent the
most characteristic variability of the data; the second EOF
will contain the second most important variability, and so
on. Usually, original data can be adequately represented with
only a few EOFs. Typically, a 1,000 thermograms sequence
can be replaced by 10 or less EOFs.
5.2 Pulsed Phase Thermography
Pulsed phase thermography is another attractive technique, in
which data are transformed from the time domain to the fre-
quency domain using the one-dimensional discrete Fourier
transform (DFT) [74, 75]:
F
n
= t
N1

k=0
T(kt ) exp
(j 2nk
/
N)
= Re
n
+ j Im
n
(2)
where j is the imaginary number ( j
2
= 1), n designates
the frequencyincrement (n = 0, 1, . . .N), t is the sampling
interval, and Re and Im are the real and the imaginary parts
of the transform, respectively. In this case, real and imagi-
nary parts of the complex transform are used to estimate the
amplitude A, and the phase [76]:
A
n
=

Re
2
n
+Im
2
n
and
n
= tan
1

Im
n
Re
n

(3)
The DFT can be used with any waveform (e.g., transient
pulsed thermographic proles). Phase proles for surface
temperature are anti-symmetric, providing redundant infor-
mation in both sides of the frequency spectra. In the fol-
lowing, only the positive part of the frequency spectra is
used while the negative frequencies can be safely discarded.
The phase is of particular interest in NDE given that it is
less affected than raw thermal data by environmental reec-
tions, emissivity variations, non-uniform heating, and sur-
face geometry and orientation. These phase characteristics
are very attractive not only for qualitative inspections, but
also for quantitative characterization of materials.
6 Results and Discussion
To guide the readers through the large number of information
given in this section, a diagram that summarizes all the main
steps relative to the NDT campaigns is reported in Fig. 7.
First of all, the fresco Discovery of the Statue of Our
Lady shown in Fig. 1a, has been inspected by ESPI tech-
nique during the 1994 restoration. The fresco was interlaced
by micro-cracks, evidence of forces at work in the wall. In
addition, a comparison of IRT results taken in two different
times (June 2009 and July 2012), shows a growof the subsur-
face cracks (Fig. 14d). In this case, the indication reported
above about the cracks mapping in the early stage of the
process has been useful during the data analysis.
Without removing the fresco from its normal exhibition
environment, the whole surface was analyzed by ESPI tech-
nique; only some meaningful results are reported here. The
map of some detachments between upper layers and the sup-
port is presented in Fig. 8. Tap test was also used to conrm
the ESPI results.
After the 2009LAquila earthquake, the frescowas studied
by square pulse thermography, focusing the attention on the
same area inspected in 1994, where subsurface micro-cracks
were found by ESPI. The area studied by ESPI is marked in
Fig. 8 and in Fig. 9 (green color), while the area studied by
square pulse thermography is underlined in Fig. 9 (yellow
color).
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3469
Fig. 7 Diagram showing all the main steps relative to the NDT campaigns
Fig. 8 Drawing of the fresco The discovery of the Statue of Our
Lady, with highlighted zones of detachment, and the area studied by
the integrated approach
Because of the subtraction nature of ESPI measurements,
the interferograms contain no visible details of the object. As
the restorers need to knowthe exact location of the defects on
the artwork, digital techniques can be used to solve this prob-
Fig. 9 Fresco, The discovery of the Statue of Our Lady by G. Farelli
(1667) after the earthquake of 2009, with the marked areas studied by
ESPI (green rectangle) and by IRT (yellow rectangle)
lem. For this reason, it is necessary before realizing the ESPI
interferogram to capture the details of the object by illumi-
nating the object itself with incoherent light. This image must
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3470 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
Fig. 10 False color specklegram of the area marked in green in Fig. 8,
after digital image processing
be realized by the video camera of the ESPI system, located
in the same position used for recording the speckle pattern.
Subsequently, by edge-detection processing, it is possible to
obtain the edge map of the object under investigation [77].
By means of a digital addition to the ESPI interferogram,
an exact location of the cracks in relation to the fresco is
obtained (Figs. 10, 12).
The area within the green rectangle measures 20 cm
2
and was subjected to a brief thermal irradiation using a
250 W infrared lamp at a distance of approximately 1 m.
Specklegrams were recorded continuously during the cool-
ing process.
Abrupt deviations along the trend of some correlation
fringes are evident. These discontinuities correspond to the
presence of cracks. Figure 11 shows a deformation map of
the selected region. This three-dimensional representation of
the cracking area was obtained using the method proposed
by Kreis [78].
After a restoration it is important to monitor over time
the state of the artwork to take further decisions. Until now,
the examination has been primarily a matter of experience;
the use of the portable ESPI system described above allows
taking decisions about the conservation of the fresco during
each phase of the restoration, taking into account factors such
as the microclimate.
For this purpose, some tests were made at the same loca-
tion after that the fresco has been restored. The interferogram
reported in Fig. 12 was realized under the same experimen-
tal conditions of the previous one (Fig. 10). Figure 12, which
corresponds to the area reported in Fig. 8, shows how the
cracks and the surrounding area have been repaired.
Fig. 11 Three-dimensional representation of the deformation in the
cracking area shown in Fig. 10
Fig. 12 The same area of Fig. 8 after restoration. Specklegram after
digital image processing: ltering, enhancement and in false color
Figure 13 shows some results obtained by IRT after the
earthquake (June 2009); it can be said that, apparently, the
same cracks shown in Fig. 10 and supposedly repaired in
1994, reappeared due to the earthquake of April 2009. The
choice of using IRTinstead of ESPI technique after the earth-
quake, was mainly suggested by security considerations: IRT
can capture a large area in a single frame and, compared to
ESPI, is quicker and does not require a scaffold. These are
key issues, taking in account that, because of the earthquake,
the Santa Maria della Croce Church is a restricted area.
Figure 13b is a phasegram obtained by PPT on the whole
data sequence, i.e., including heating and cooling phases. It
is possible to see in this gure different kinds of cracks: the
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3471
Fig. 13 Active thermography results (June 2009), a Photograph of the inspected area, b phasegram obtained by pulsed phase thermography; and
principal component thermography results for, c the heating phase and, d the cooling phase of the sequence
same detected before the restoration, and also some surface
features such as painting traces (note the hand at the center).
Principal component thermography was applied to the
heating and cooling phases, separately. Results are shown
in Fig. 13c and d, respectively.
During the heating phase, which lasted 180 s, the thermal
signature of surface and near the surface features is very high.
Hence, features in Fig. 13c are located at the surface or close
to it, for instance, the ladys hand and cloths painting traces
near the center of the image. In the case of the cooling phase,
deeper features are seen since heat has the time to propagate
through the material.
Focusing the attention on Fig. 13b, it is possible to note an
interesting subsurface crack with a rectangular shape marked
by red arrows. Since the rst crack detected by ESPI and
subsequently by IRT was located at the bottom left corner of
the rectangle, the analysis using IRT technique was repeated
working with different heating times and considering this
marker as a key point.
In the rst one (July 2012), an IR lamp (2 KW) was used
as in the previous test, but for a longer time (1968 s) to ver-
ify whether possible inhomogeneous loads inside the wall
may have been responsible of the damage during the 2009
earthquake (Fig. 14).
In the second test (August 2012), a propane gas heater
was employed to inspect both the front and the back side of
the wall of the The discovery of the Statue of Our Lady
fresco, in an attempt to detect a buried window inside the
wall structure. The front and back sides of the fresco were
heated for 40 min, and the cooling down was processed by
PCT. Processed results relative to the front side are presented
in Fig. 15.
It is possible to see a warmer area in the center top of
Fig. 15a (EOF1), showing a contrast difference between the
supposed buried architectural structure (white area) and the
surrounding area (dark area) as well. Amore clear indication
of the buried window can be seen in Fig. 15b, where quasi-
parallel cracks can be observed. The back side results are
shown in Fig. 16. Given the limited area available to carry out
the inspection, only a relatively small part was tested. Still,
it is possible to observe a horizontal pattern (highlighted by
arrows) that resembles a group of stones or bricks forming a
line, which is supposed to correspond to the bottom edge of
the ancient window.
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3472 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
Fig. 14 a Photograph of the inspected area with the highlighted cracks detected in 2009 by white color, while the cracks revealed in 2012 are
marked by yellow color; PCT results (July 2012): b EOF1, c EOF3, d EOF4 with a summary cracks mapping during 3 years (20092012)
Fig. 15 PCT results (August 2012), a EOF1, b EOF3
The experiment, to investigate both the front and the rear
side of a real fresco using IRT for conrming the presence
of an architectural buried structure, was approached in this
work for the rst time to the best of our knowledge.
Comparing the 2009 PCT results (Fig. 13c) with the
2012 PCT results (Fig. 14c), it is possible to observe fur-
ther deterioration of the cracks passing through the central
area inspected, which might be related to the presence of the
buried window.
In addition, it is interesting to note the presence of dif-
ferent subsurface cracks, shown in Fig. 16c, d, not detected
by naked eyes. The latter result explains the importance of
applying IRT technique during the restoration of an architec-
tural heritage seriously damaged by an earthquake. In fact,
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3473
Fig. 16 a Photograph of the inspected area marked by black dotted rectangle of the The discovery of the Statue of Our Lady frescorear side;
PCT results (August 2012): b EOF1, c EOF2, d EOF3
the visual inspection of the left aisle (Fig. 3) revealed only
shallow cracks and not deep cracks (Fig. 16c, d). These two
results should be combined and taken into account in the
restoration phase.
To detect underdrawings and show more clearly the sur-
face defects that occurred after the earthquake, the NIRtech-
nique was also used for the same area analyzed in June 2009
by IRT (Fig. 17).
As canbe seeninFig. 17, nounderdrawings were detected.
Still, the use of NIR reectography enhances the surface and
subsurface cracks, as we compare this result with the image
of the same area shown in Fig. 13a. The emissivity of a pig-
ment, highlighted with a black rectangle, is enhanced by NIR
technique. This pigment was analyzed in a laboratory and
identied as white lead. The X-ray diffractometer result is
shown in Fig. 18.
In fact, white lead has a measurable radioactive trace with
appropriate tools, which can roughly determine the age and
disappears completely after a minimum period of 160 years.
Drying is fast enough and produces a very elastic lm; robust-
ness cannot be reached with any other white, but tends to lose
coverage, over the years. It tends to darken, due to the action
of hydrogen sulde traces in the air; in fact, oxidized, it turns
Fig. 17 NIR result of the area analyzed by IR Thermography reported
as (yellow rectangle) in Fig. 13a
into lead oxide, brown in color. This tendency to become dark
is much more evident when it is used with binders (mural
painting, tempera) and in the presence of moisture [79].
Probably, the buffered niche (Fig. 2a, b) adjacent to the
fresco (Fig. 3), identied by a rawthermogram(Fig. 19) dur-
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3474 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
Fig. 18 X-ray diffractometer result of the particular pigment high-
lighted by a black rectangle in Fig. 17
Fig. 19 Rawthermogramcaptured before the 2009 earthquake, during
the cooling stage. The inspected area is shown in Fig. 2a
ing another IRTcampaign (2006), was crucial in the mechan-
ical vibration caused by the earthquake, as much as the buried
window (Fig. 15b).
In our experience, the integration between different NDT
techniques, such as optical and thermographic, has furnished
interestingresults for samples withreal andfabricateddefects
[8085]. The possibility of comparing data previous to and
subsequent to a mechanical shock for an artwork, as in the
case of Discovery of the Statue of Our Lady fresco, is
unique in its kind.
The radiation source during the reectographic and ther-
mographic inspections consisted of 2 kW halogen lamp
(STAR), which provides both a wide spectrum radiation
(including the NIR band) and heat stimulation for IRT tech-
nique. Instead, to inspect the niche two infrared lamps 250
W (OSRAM SICCATHERM) were used in reection mode.
In The episode of mares knees fresco shown in Fig. 1b,
it was important to integrate PCT and NIR results to produce
a map of the surface and subsurface cracks (Fig. 20).
This map could be very useful for the restorers to try to
understand the more appropriate way to repair this fresco.
In this case, NIR technique was also important to reveal
a retouching probably made during old restorations or by
the author himself. In fact, as can be seen in Fig. 21, an
original character was incorporatedintothe mantle of another
character.
In a second experiment realized to dene more clearly
the subsurface cracks marked by red lines in Fig. 20b, c, the
IR camera was placed perpendicular to the The episode of
mares knees fresco and a new IR data set was acquired.
On seeing Fig. 3, readers can understand that the two fres-
coes discussed in this work were painted inside the same
room and one in front of each other. Checking an ancient
text [86], it is possible to realize that Farelli painted The
discovery of the Statue of Our Lady, but it is not sure that
he is the author of The episode of mares knees fresco. In
fact, the signature and the date (1667) are only reported on
the rst one.
In addition, Fig. 22a is very interesting if compared with
the walls typology of The discovery of the Statue of Our
Lady fresco (Fig. 15a, b).
This is a rst clue that could indicate the building of the
walls that divide the two aisles to the room (Fig. 3) in two
different time periods. The second clue is given below.
These IR results were obtained working with: (a) a frame
rate of 1 Hz, (b) a 2 KW IR lamp, (c) a heating phase of
1,940 s and a cooling phase of 1,256 s.
Four subsurface spots having a rectangular geometry were
detected in Fig. 22a (red dashed ovals). Taking into account
their position (on the highest or lateral part of the fresco),
these thermal anomalies could be due to reinforcement ele-
ments of the wall. The NIR result (Fig. 22d) was arranged
with the EOF6 result (Fig. 22b) to dene a cracks map
reported in Fig. 22c. EOF4 clearly shows the four subsur-
face dark spots.
Since, this part of the Church includes the small chapel
dedicated to St. Leonard (1221), it is plausible to assume that
they are lead clamps (manufactured by the builders) poured
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3475
Fig. 20 a Photograph of the inspected area of The episode of mares knees fresco, b EOF1 heating, c EOF2 heating, d NIR result
Fig. 21 a Photograph of the inspected area of The episode of mares knees fresco, b NIR result: pentimento
in the molten state inside some articial voids of the stones
[87]. In addition, it is impossible to detect these anomalies
by NIR technique (Fig. 22d). At this point, we can say that
they are deeper than the subsurface cracks.
As explained elsewhere [88], the wall section frequently
hides a complicated technique of construction in two or
three leaves of different thickness; these leaves are con-
nected in different ways or sometime are not connected at
all. In the present case, the reinforcement elements previ-
ously described connect adjacent stones frontally.
Anyway, the characteristics of masonry as a composite are
frequently unknown nowadays, since the knowledge about
the construction techniques was lost decades ago, i.e., when
the new construction materials as steel and concrete became
in use [89].
The proposed method of inspecting rstly the fresco by an
IR lamp to detect the shallow conguration of the upper lay-
ers (applying both the thermographic and the reectographic
methods), and secondly using a propane gas heater to reveal
the deeper texture of the wall (working in the rst step on the
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3476 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
Fig. 22 Fresco: The episode of mares knees supposedly painted by G. Farelli (1667): a EOF3, b EOF6, c EOF4, d NIR result
Fig. 23 a Photograph of the inspected area of The episode of mares knees frescofront side, b EOF2
front, and in the second stage on the rear side) was also used
on The episode of mares knees fresco.
The EOF2 result coming from the rst step applying SPT
is shown in Fig. 23b.
The latter gure conrms that applying hot air as heating
source for several minutes (40 min), it is possible to reveal
the construction technique of the wall (note the shape of the
stones at the center of the gure). In addition, the assumption
about the role of the lead clamps is conrmed after having
detected the shape of two stones at the upper right corner
(highlighted by dark circles) of the same gure. The other
two clamps located at the upper edge of the fresco (Fig. 22a,
c), are not now identied because outside the eld of view,
while the fourth clamp is still detectable although the shape
is not well dened (Fig. 23b).
Finally, The episode of mares knees fresco was inspec-
ted by IRT (heating: 630 s, cooling: 630 s) from the rear side
(Fig. 24a).
In this case, both the raw thermogram capture at t = 630 s
and the EOF2 result show some interesting subsurface struc-
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Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480 3477
Fig. 24 a Photograph of the inspected area of The episode of mares knees frescorear side, b raw thermogram at t = 630 s, c EOF2
tures. For example, Fig. 24b exhibits three horizontal buried
structures (A, B and C). Structure A is completely covered
by plaster and it is at higher level compared to the visible
stone beam on the right side. This beam seems to be thicker
if connected with the A and C subsurface structures. In the
same way, the subsurface beam A was also detected by PCT
(Fig. 24c).
The latter gure clearly reveals a paraboloid-shaped struc-
ture (marked with a white dotted line in Fig. 24a). This struc-
ture forms a cusp with the second paraboloid-shaped struc-
ture visible to the naked eyes (marked with a dark dotted line
in Fig. 24a). The junction is located between the subsurface
beams, named: A (on the left), B and C (on the right). It
appears as a dark spot in Fig. 24c and is slightly visible in
Fig. 24a.
The non-conjunction between the A, B, C, and the visible
beams is surprising, and may indicate, taking into account
the shape cusp detected, a modication of the ceiling during
the time.
The horizontal subsurface structure detected in Fig. 16b
(rear side of The discovery of the Statue of Our Lady
fresco) is not present in this case. In fact, using the propane
gas heater to heating the front side of The episode of mares
knees fresco, another buried window was not revealed (sec-
ond clue) in the thermographic images.
7 Conclusion
Many current methods of optical testing are not widely avail-
able for the examination of frescoes because laboratory facil-
ities are required. The satisfactory operation of the TV holo-
graphic system described in this work is illustrated by its
application to the analysis of Farellis fresco named The
discovery of the Statue of Our Lady situated inside Santa
Maria della Croce di Roio Church: the system is very simple
to use in situ.
The same considerations can be done for square pulse
thermographyusedoutside the laboratory, withthe advantage
that this technique is able to investigate a wider area with less
time, andis able todetect large voids ina wall that couldaffect
the surface stability during an earthquake (Fig. 19).
To conrm the presence of subsurface cracks, the NIR
technique was very useful both to detect a pentimento of
the author in the second fresco of the Church named The
episode of mares knees, and to characterize, together with
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3478 Arab J Sci Eng (2014) 39:34613480
X-ray diffractometer technique, the presence of a radioactive
chemical element in The discovery of the Statue of Our
Lady fresco.
This work conrms that ESPI and the infrared vision may
be considered generally for all types of work where one can
foresee a degrading reaction to ambient stimuli or mechan-
ical stress (e.g., earthquake); these stimuli generally cause
internal detachments and cracks due to structural instabili-
ties (Fig. 14d).
Another consideration is the importance of establishing
a monitoring program following the restoration of a fresco
of great historical value. In fact, the same cracks supposedly
repaired by the 2004 restoration (Fig. 12) were reassessed
following the earthquake of 2009 (Fig. 13b), at least for the
area highlighted with a green rectangle (Fig. 10). This part of
the fresco was inspected by optical, NIR and thermographic
NDT techniques in different times (Figs. 13, 14).
Comparing the cracks revealed inside this area from June
2009 to August 2012, it is possible to say that the buried
windowdetected by PCT in Fig. 15 acts as a point load rather
than a distributed load.
Exacerbating the situation there is the void caused by the
door locatedbelowThe discoveryof the Statue of Our Lady
fresco, and the void inside the wall due to a buffered niche
(Fig. 3).
The results obtained by the joint use of infrared and opti-
cal NDT techniques on the rst fresco (Fig. 1a), before and
after a catastrophic event, suggest a future ESPI diagnos-
tic campaign also on the second fresco (Fig. 1b), currently
investigated only by IR vision.
This work enhances the possibility of revealing subsurface
cracks [90] and architectural buried structure by SPT-PCT.
Furthermore, also the optimal position of an IR camera to
clearly detect subsurface cracks is conrmed [91]. However,
comparing the results coming from the inspections reported
in Figs. 20 and 22, it is possible to obtain more details about
the subsurface defects in composite structures [83].
In addition, the use of propane gas to heat the structures for
a longer period was found worthy, providing indications of
the presence of the supposedly buried window beneath The
discovery of the Statue of Our Lady fresco in both rear and
front sides of the fresco. Furthermore, it was possible to have
a better idea of the nature of the building structure, such as
stones patterns.
This integrated result can be easily interpreted by the
restorer who will focus on restoration of these artworks.
Acknowledgments The authors want to thank the support of the
Soprintendenza per i Beni Ambientali, Architettonici, Artistici e Storici
per lAbruzzo (Italy) for granting permission to carry out experiments
on the Farellis frescoes in the Santa Maria della Croce di Roio Church
and for providing us the result of X-ray diffractometer. Figures 1, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18: Courtesy of WIT Press from (WIT Transac-
tions on The Built Environment Volume 118, 2011, p. 784). The authors
would also like to thank Prof. Lilliana Genova for the comments on the
English language.
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