Abstract
The ARMID@Venezia project aims to safeguard extraordinary collections, both handwritten and printed, preserved in the library of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of Venice, heavily damaged by the exceptionally high tide of November, 2019. The project was moreover conceived to integrate various competencies from art history, conservation science, archival systems, and music philology, in order to propose a comprehensive and innovative perception on the conservation of documents. The project involves digitalization (through high-resolution photographic reproduction), virtual restoration and a detailed investigation of the materials used (supports, inks, pigments, dyes, etc.) for future physical restoration. Only non-invasive and non-destructive techniques are being employed, such as imaging analysis in the visible (including macro- and micro-photographic examination), near infrared (NIR), and near ultraviolet (UV-induced fluorescence or UVF, and reflected UV or UVR) range, on representative artefacts. In addition, non-invasive spectroscopic techniques, such as Fiber Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), μ-Raman and X-Ray (XRF) were also applied for a detailed chemical characterization of materials used to support the results obtained through imaging analyses. In this article, the results of multispectral imaging (MSI) conducted in three different categories of music sources, paper manuscripts, parchment manuscripts, and printed books, are discussed and compared with spectroscopic techniques, confirming the benefits of photographic investigation in these artworks. The great assortment of available documents, in terms of constitutive materials, historical period of production and state of conservation, is a strong point of this project in order to test the potential holistic approach to safeguard the documents collected in the library.