In the present study, the glass tesserae from three Roman mosaics located in S. Aloe quarter -Vibo Valentia (Calabria Italy) were analysed, with the aim of investigating the colouring and opacification techniques. The micro-chemical characterization of the tesserae was conducted by means of EMPA-WDS and LA-ICPMS. Results show that all the tesserae are natron-based and chemically comparable with major Roman compositional groups. In addition, the colouring/opacification techniques identified are consistent with the presumed Roman dating of the mosaics.

ZnO is widely used in different technological areas due to its beneficial qualities such as high chemical stability, non-toxicity, high photoreactivity, and cheapness. Based on its antibacterial activity, recently it has found also application to prevent bio-deterioration of cultural heritage buildings. As many authors suggested, doped ZnO nano-structures exhibit better antibacterial properties than undoped analogues. In the present work, ZnO nanoparticles doped with ZrO2 have been prepared by a sol-gel method in order to enhance the photocatalytic properties as well as the antibacterial activity of ZnO. Then, ZrO2-ZnO-PDMS nanocomposite (PDMS, polydimethylsiloxane used as the binder) was synthesized by in-situ reaction. The resulting nanocomposite has been investigated as a possible protective material for cultural heritage building substrates. Therefore, it has been applied to three different stones (Lecce stone, Carrara Marble and Brick) in order to evaluate the protective properties of the resulting coating. Plain PDMS was considered as a reference coating.

The construction of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cupola, also known as Brunelleschi's Cupola, was one of the most challenging and revolutionary projects of the Renaissance, specifically from the technical point of view. The Cupola, whose construction was completed in 1436, more that 100 years after the beginning of the Cathedral building, is one of the greatest architecture masterworks. Its construction was possible only thanks to the revolutionary ideas and innovations of Brunelleschi's project. New tools and machines were designed in order to overcome the technical difficulties of the project. Some of these tools, property of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore and preserved in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence, were never analysed. This paper presents the performed investigation and the preliminary obtained results related to XRF measurements. These can be of great interest in order to define the origin of these historical tools and their production technologies.

In the field of Heritage Science, mobile instruments for preservation of artworks are more and more in use. INFN-CHNet, the network of INFN devoted to Cultural Heritage, develops instruments and methods to support the research in the field. Among the others, a MA-XRF scanner was built for in-situ analysis. It is fully operative and has been employed in museums, conservation centres and out-door fields. Recently the INFN-CHNet MA-XRF scanner was employed at the CCR La Venaria Reale, Turin, for the analysis of different artworks undertaking conservation treatments. The versatility of the MA-XRF scanner is highlighted by the diversity of the materials and the techniques of the applications (painting on canvas, panel painting, and wooden cabinet).

In Heritage Science applications, in-situ and non-destructive analyses are commonly preferred. The valuable nature of historical objects often hinders the possibility of either sample or transport them into laboratories. Macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) has become widespread in the archaeometry field, due to its non-destructive and non-invasive characteristics and especially to the amount of information provided by the technique. Unfortunately, most of the instruments are either fixed or mobile, hindering their in-situ applications. Moreover, most of the mobile instrumentation are bulky and require some logistics for transportation. In this scope, a modular instrument has been developed. The scanner, which requires no more than one person to transport and assemble, has been tested and compared under compatible circumstances to state-of-the-art instrumentation. Preliminary results are presented and discussed.