Conservation Treatment and Non-Destructive Investigation of Six Japanese Woodblock Prints by Utagawa Kunisada: A Multi-Interdisciplinary Project at the Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art

ABSTRACTIn 2017, the Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art (Genova, Italy) acquired a group of ukiyo-e polychrome prints designed by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). The collection was donated to be preserved and to be made accessible to the public, promoting the planning of a specific conservation project. The aim of this paper is to summarize the results of the whole project, highlighting its successful multidisciplinary approach that involved historians, curators, conservators, and conservation scientists. The project was supported by analytical imaging and non-invasive spectroscopic analysis. The collected data enabled a more targeted approach to the conservation of the ukiyo-e prints. The treatments were calibrated through the knowledge of the surface morphology of the prints, while the identification of colorants made it possible to assess sensitivity to wet treatments, pH, and exposure to light.