Studio storico e conservativo del Sepolcro dei Plautii a Tivoli

Abstract

The Ith century A.D. Plautii Mausoleum is located in the ancient site of Ponte Lucano. During the history it represented the entrance in Tivoli and many artists and art historians paid attention to this monument when they went across Ponte Lucano to reach the archaeological site of Villa Adriana, declared Humanity World Heritage. Nowadays the Mausoleum is neglected and often flooded by Aniene river whose waters stagnate in the monument also due to the presence of a recently builted cement wall. The aim of this work was to analyse the state of conservation of the travertine that is the material of the Mausoleum, to give a valid aid for the safeguard of this important monument. The analyses were carried out on few samples taken from both the surfaces of the Mausoleum and from cave travertine in order to make a comparison. The mineralogical analysis was carried out by means of a polarizing microscope; the chemical analyses were achieved by FTIR and µ-FTIR spectrometry and X-Ray Diffraction. Some biological attacks were examined through SEM observation. Microanalitycal spot tests were carried out to confirm the presence of iron compounds in the travertine. Soluble salts were determined by means of visible spectrometry. Some imbibition and evaporation tests were carried out on suitably prepared samples.