A support of restoration intervention of the bust of St. Gregory the Armenian: Compositional investigations by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy was employed in the restoration process of the bust of St. Gregory the Armenian. It was applied to carry out elemental chemical analyses of different details of the bust. The analyses showed that all the investigated pieces are covered by polluted layers, rich mainly in calcium which can be removed by laser ablation. The investigations performed on the cleaned surfaces confirm that the hair is composed essentially of silver and the stole of copper and that no foils were added during the stages of artwork realization. The interesting finding is that the decorative coating of the stole was realized in gold, instead of the supposed brass.