Malte del supporto, disegno preparatorio e tessere lapidee del mosaico parietale della prima Chiesa di San Nicolò del Lido di Venezia (XI sec. d.c.). Alcune considerazioni

This paper reports the results of the archaeometric analyses on the wall mosaic of the First Church of San Nicolò del Lido in Venice (11th cent. AD), recovered in a fragmentary state in the collapse debris of the medieval building during 1980s excavation activities. The preparatory mortars, the pigments constituting the under-drawing underlying the mosaic, and the stone tesserae of the artifact were investigated at the laboratories of the University of Padua adopting a multi-analytical approach, that integrates Polarized Light Microscopy on thin sections (plm), X-Ray Powder Diffraction Analysis (xrpd) and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive System (sem-eds). From the analysis, a detailed characterization of the composition and provenance of the employed raw materials was obtained, allowing a final evaluation of the overall mosaic’s executive technology.