Meccanismi di cedimento nei dipinti su tela. Approcci per lo sviluppo di protocolli di consolidamento. Failure mechanisms in canvas supported paintings: approaches for developing consolidation protocols

Research into the mechanical properties of materials, the development and better understanding of failure mechanism theories, development of predictive models for the preservation of the collections of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. These, in summary, are Marion Mecklenburg's main professional interests. Americans are very good at synthesizing their thoughts and activities. They are accustomed to presenting their work, even when the result of years of effort, in ten minutes or five pages. The brief summary given above does indeed effectively illustrate Marion's daily efforts over the last twenty years, within and also outside the celebrated Smithsonian and the American scientific community. For the first time in Italy, the results of the activities carried out by Mecklenburg over the years, on the mechanical characteristics of the constituent materials of "easel" paintings, are being published in this important volume of the Collana I Talenti.

Marion F. Mecklenburg, currently Senior Research Physical Scientist and Member of the graduate faculty, from 1965 to 1984 was a paintings conservator in private practice in Washington, D.C. In 1988-1994 was Assistant Director for Conservation Research at Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.