1300 years statue The dancing horse, a relic of the Chinese Tang dynasty, has taken up the ancient tradition of trained horses performing for the emperor.
–
But curators at the Cincinnati Museum of Art weren’t stunned by one feature of 8th-century living sculpture: the tassel on the forehead they thought was not genuine.
–
–
How to investigate without destroying precious art?
–
Scientists are ready to help find out.
–
Sophisticated analytical techniques help solve the mystery and reveal more about the history of the object.
–
To get answers, the custodians of the restoration must agree to give away an irreplaceable 26-inch piece of art in the name of science. An international team of researchers analyzed 11 small etched samples, each weighing a few milligrams. Taken from various locations aboard the Mud Horse, the samples underwent a series of different tests.
–
By analyzing everything from sample chemistry to molecular structure, scientists get the most out of the tiny pile of dust.
–
One technique, powdered X-ray diffraction, studies how X-rays behave when trained on a metal or other substance that has been ground into a powder. Different materials bend light in different ways and this technique can help determine material mixtures or compositions of even very small samples.
–
Other techniques include Raman spectroscopy, which observes how laser light is scattered when it hits a sample.
–
Scientists know that tassel is not made of clay, but rather of gypsum with animal glue. Other tassels on the horse’s saddle reveal evidence of numerous improvements over the course of several generations.
–
Eventually, discovering that the tassel was not authentic led the museum to remove it.
–
This study will help restoration supervisors determine the best way to keep horses in good condition. In the news ReleasePietro Stropea, a chemistry professor at the University of Cincinnati who led the research, said he will continue analyzing objects for Midwestern museums.
–
