Quantitative non-invasive method for damage evaluation in frescoes: Ariadne’s House (Pompeii, Italy)

The preventive conservation is based on acting on the causes of deterioration of cultural heritage to minimise damage, extending its lifetime and minimising the costs of restoration. In this paper, a quantitative method of recording and assessment of damage in frescoes is presented. Damage mapping has been performed with a colour scale of six values for two fresco paintings of two walls at Ariadne’s House (Pompeii, Italy); subsequently, this information has been transferred to a data matrix which and statistical analysis of Variance (ANOVA) has been applied. ANOVA results show significant differences for the vertical and the horizontal axis depending on the different stages of damage. These differences also depend on the wall, which may be due to intrinsic differences such as materials of different restorations, the orientation of the wall, etc. or extrinsic differences and variations in temperature, relative humidity, etc. This methodology may be used in the future to quantify the influence of different variables on the extent of the deterioration of the paint layer, as for example determine and monitor its correlation to salts analytics in a determined facing.