Lapis lazuli has been used for more than 7000 years for the manufacture of precious objects and jewels. The main quarries for this stone are in Afghanistan, although other quarries could have been exploited since antiquity. For this reason a provenance study of lapis lazuli could provide answers to some important issues, for example the use and the dissemination of this rock through historic commercial routes. We already started a systematic characterization of rocks of certain provenance to find some markers to distinguish among them and in this work we continue on this way to confirm the ones already found and to find some new ones. We’ve also performed some preliminary measurements on precious objects of the “Collezione Medicea” from “Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze”, with interesting results.
The provenance of lapis lazuli used for the objects of the “Collezione Medicea”
RE, ALESSANDRO;LO GIUDICE, Alessandro;ANGELICI, Debora;
2011-01-01
Abstract
Lapis lazuli has been used for more than 7000 years for the manufacture of precious objects and jewels. The main quarries for this stone are in Afghanistan, although other quarries could have been exploited since antiquity. For this reason a provenance study of lapis lazuli could provide answers to some important issues, for example the use and the dissemination of this rock through historic commercial routes. We already started a systematic characterization of rocks of certain provenance to find some markers to distinguish among them and in this work we continue on this way to confirm the ones already found and to find some new ones. We’ve also performed some preliminary measurements on precious objects of the “Collezione Medicea” from “Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze”, with interesting results.
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