The National Monument to Francesco Baracca in Lugo di Romagna (Ravenna, Italy): Materials, techniques and conservation aspects

•We examined materials from 20th century monumental architecture of Italian Rationalism.•We studied the original surface finishing of travertine stone and its decay phenomena.•Smooth finishing were made by application of white pigments diluted in siccative oil.•Nano-TiO2 coatings were tested on travertine for chromatic variations.

The results of scientific analyses performed on the travertine parts of the National Monument to Francesco Baracca in Lugo di Romagna (Ravenna, Italy) are reported and discussed. The aim of the research is an in-depth knowledge of the constituent material in view of technological and conservation aspects, to support the first significant restoration work (held in 2014) concerning the Monument created by the artist Domenico Rambelli in 1936, a masterpiece of monumental Italian twentieth century architecture. RLM, SEM/EDS, XRD and micro-FTIR analyses were carried out on micro-samples to characterize the different original surface finishing and the degradation phenomena. VIS-RS, RLM and SEM/EDS investigations were also performed to evaluate the application of a nanoparticle titanium dioxide—based coating on the stone surfaces.