Destructuring a shield to rebuild the history: The case of the painted wooden shield from the battle of Lepanto in Marino (Rome, Italy)

Abstract

A painted wooden shield from the 16th century, commonly traced back to the famous Lepanto Battle (1571), was investigated by a multi‐analytical approach to identify its manufacturing process and shed light on its cultural provenance. The typology is coherent with both the Christian and Ottoman armies and does not allow for an attribution. Radiocarbon dated the shield to two time intervals (1470–1525, 1580–1625, at 68% level of probability), compatible with the date of the Battle of Lepanto. Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy, Attenuated Total Reflectance, External Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared, micro‐Raman and Energy Dispersive X‐ray Spectroscopy, and histochemical and shrinking temperature tests were used to characterize the artefact. The shield resulted to be made of softwood panels, covered by a stratigraphy of flax fibres, cattle skin, and a painting preparation layer of hydromagnesite. Adhesion was ensured by bone glue. Oblique, red, and cinnabar stripes alternating on the white preparation are visible on the front of the shield, whereas a homogeneous dark paint covers the back. None of the raw materials was informative by themselves, but the unusual presence of the hydromagnesite could be crossed with the geographical context, resulting in a promising outcome for future isotopic and trace element studies.