Lucian Ratoiu

Institute for Research and Development in Optoelectronics | inoe · Optoelectronic Methods and Techniques for Artwork Conservation & Restoration

A group of wall painting fragments discovered at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, an important Roman archeological site located in the former Roman province of Dacia (Romania), have been investigated with the aim of defining the material composition of their pictorial layers and exploring the pictorial technology used. In order to preserve the integrit...

Complex demands in the field of cultural heritage preservation often require a multidisciplinary approach and substantial volumes of multimodal data integration and management. The conventional approach to tackling these issues revolves around using different H-BIM (historical building information model) solutions. This paper presents a prototype f...

As part of a detailed investigation project focused on the painting materials and technical features used in Wallachia during the 17th and 18th century, the imperial icon “Mother of God with Child” from the Orthodox Church of the “Annunciation” in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania, was investigated before the restoration intervention. A minimally invasive mu...

This work presents the results of a complementary diagnostic investigation carried out on a late wooden panel painting attributed to world-famous Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder. The aim of this study was to characterize the pigments, ground layers and painting technique used in Cranach’s painting Madonna and Child by means of an integr...

This is an original manuscript of an article published by CRC Press in Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks XIII on 3 November 2023 available online: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003386872-3

The Golești Manor ensemble consists of architectural monuments dating back to the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, with ephemeral architecture roots from Phanariot times but also some pre- Brancovan influences. The Turkish steam bath is placed in the northeast of the enclosure, and it is thought to have been built by Stroe Leurdeanu. Although there...

This study highlights the decomposing role through the hydrolytic activities of fungi isolated from natural environments represented by brackish and hypersaline lakes in Romania. Novel strains belonging to the Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Emericellopsis genera were isolated and screened for the ability to produce extracellular hydrolytic enzymes,...

This paper presents an integrated multi-analytical documentation of a bronze vessel discovered in a 2nd century Roman military fort from ancient Dacia. The process involved 3D digitization, X-ray and hyperspectral imaging, and molecular, elemental, and structural analysis using Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, laser-indu...

Prin scopul urmărit, prin metodologia și prin structura lucrării, am propus o alternativă la principalele sinteze care au avut ca subiect central evoluția conservării-restaurării și care nu au subliniat suficient de clar diferența fundamentală dintre monumente (monumentele intenționale) și monumentele istorice (monumentele neintenționale). Scopul a...

In this study, several wall painting fragments discovered in the Roman baths from the archeological site Alburnus Maior (Roşia Montană, Romania) were analyzed with the aim to investigate the material composition of both plasters and pictorial layers. Dated from the beginning of the second century AD, these rare findings stand among the oldest examp...

This paper presents the results of an in-depth diagnostic investigation carried out on four Transylvanian icons originally painted at the beginning of the 18th century and entirely repainted later, in 1911. The icons, originating from a wooden church in Alba County (Romania), were investigated by an array of non-invasive and micro-invasive techniqu...

The article presents a multi-analytic investigation of a severely degraded Jewish ritual parchment coming from a private collection. The main aim of the study was to obtain key information on the parchment manufacturing technique and original materials used, information that could help understand the historical context of the object. To this aim, a...

Often associated with acts of vandalism, graffiti can also be identified with the so‐called street art movement. Moreover, in the historical context of visual arts from the 20th and 21st century, graffiti spray paints feature among the materials employed in the work of representative artists such as Lucio Fontana, Richard Hamilton, Yves Klein, or D...

Abstract The Peleș National Museum in Sinaia, Romania, includes within its collection of musical instruments a unique harpsichord of the Taskin workshop. The instrument is representative of the eighteenth century French harpsichords, finished in 1772 by Taskin Pascal, a master instrument-maker of his time. This paper presents the results of a compr...

In this study several non-invasive and minimally-invasive techniques were employed for the discovery of the original aspect of an old iconostasis belonging to a small wooden church in Vâlcea County (southern Romania). Preliminary examination of the iconostasis raised suspicions upon its actual age, the wooden carved decorations style pointing towar...

Acest volum este o colecţie de studii interdisciplinare realizate în cadrul proiectului demonstrativ „Platformă digitală integrată pentru valorizarea peisajului cultural din Munţii Buzăului. Studiu de caz: cadrul natural şi monumentele istorice din zona Aluniş-Bozioru”, derulat în perioada ianuarie 2017 - iunie 2018. Principalul obiectiv al proie...

This paper deals with the development of a multidisciplinary study on the current state of conservation of the facade of the Arciprestal Church of Santa María de Morella (Castellón, Spain), a work of the Gothic period of great historical and artistic value. The aim of this diagnosis was to undertake the preventive conservation actions required and...

This paper presents an optimized approach for the characterization of complex painting layers and for the evaluation of previous interventions on artworks. Focusing on the capabilities of hyperspectral imaging, which combines spectral and imaging data, this specific approach reflects also the importance of complementary methods and techniques, whic...

Four icons belonging to the altarpiece of an old wooden church in Alba county (Romania) were analyzed by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), hyperspectral imaging and X-ray radiography. The icons dated to the beginning of the 18th century are prominent examp...

This paper presents an optimized approach for the characterization of complex painting layers and for the evaluation of previous interventions on artworks. Focusing on the capabilities of hyperspectral imaging, which combines spectral and imaging data, this specific approach reflects also the importance of complementary methods and techniques, whic...

Textul își propune să readucă în actualitate și să reevalueze semnificația și importanța descoperirii monumentului istoric în spațiul cultural european, un concept modern legat în mod intim de problematica memoriei și a identității. Nevoia de întoarcere la originea conceptului este justificată, pe de-o parte, de tensiunile recurente manifestate înt...

This paper presents the methodology and the results of the implementation of an interdisciplinary research model regarding the characterization of a cultural landscape. This work was focused on 5 rupestral monuments in the Buzău Mountains and is part of a demonstrative project funded by the Program Partnerships in Priority domains PN-III-P2-2.1. I...

The paper presents a comparative investigation on two icons, dated approximately 17–18th and 19th century, respectively, which are representative for the Russian Lipovan cultural communities. A non-invasive protocol was employed aiming to gain a wider perspective on this type of icons, which had not been studied so far through analytical means. Ima...

This paper presents two related aspects which reflect the interest in multimedia archive management and preventive conservation. First, an overview of the national program Folkmedia-Folkloric Multimedia Deposit is presented, in order to understand the context and the strategy developed for the Archive of the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore "C...

This paper presents an ongoing work within a national project regarding the scientific investigation of one of the most important archaeological sites in Romania: Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa. Although the project has many objectives, in this paper we will focus on the development work of a virtual archaeodrome for the archaeological park. In this r...

This paper presents a newly started demonstrative project regarding the implementation and validation of an interdisciplinary research model for the Aluniș-Bozioru (Romania) cultural landscape, with the development of an online interactive digital product. This digital product would provide complementary data about the historical monuments and thei...

The present paper presents the results of a national project - Folkmedia - focused on a new form of a modern archive according to a strict risk assessment plan, in order to assure the collection's viability and increase its visibility. Significant part of the archive recordings has been successfully assessed and the digitization process is running...

This article expands a section of a large project concerning the preservation, display and storage conditions of a huge archival fund (belonging to the Folklore Archives of the " Constantin Brăiloiu " Institute of Ethnography and Folklore, Romanian Academy, Bucharest). Loss of readability is the most significant effect produced by the degradation p...

The paper presents the methodology and the results of the GPR (Ground penetrating radar) investigations on the Roman mosaic pavement from Constanţa. The aim was to identify the risk areas, degradations or possible buried objects, using a noninvasive and nondestructive, photon analysis technique based on the transmission and reception of electromagn...