Study of the components and technology used to make icons dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century with the treatment and restoration of one of them

The research presents the general features of three wooden icons representing the set of the crucifixion (Christ crucified, the Virgin and Saint John) executed by the artist Nixoλαy in 1903 AD using oil colors (not previously published). Over the years, these icons have suffered from a number of causes of damage that were reviewed during the research. Various methods and devices, such as the scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersal unit (EDX-SEM), as well as the X-ray diffraction (X.R.D) analyzer have been used to examine the colorants that were used to color these icons and to identify their components. It was found that graphite was used as a black colorant. Hematite as a colorant for red, goethite, and orbment as a color for yellow, celadonite as a color for green, and rum green in icons.
And the analyzer was used using infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) to identify the components of the floor layer (and it proved to be calcium carbonate) and the bonding material used with it (it was animal glue), as well as the type of medium used with the coloring materials was identified and proven It is from linseed oil, and the original varnish was also identified in the painting, and it was from mastic. The John icon was treated and restored, and an attempt was made to get rid of the signs of aging and to remove the imprints of time. This was done by cleaning the icon and removing the dark varnish layer using acetone, and working to fill the cracks and gaps in the photographic floor with a mixture similar to the original and strengthening the chalk floor that had suffered from damage to the bonding material. Then the drawing of the icon was completed and recolored, and a suitable polymer lacquer (Paralloid 72) was selected and applied.