Papier-Mâché Puppets’ Characterization by Infrared Imaging Techniques

Among the different forms of art, the puppet theatre constitutes a long-standing and often little-known tradition. The use of puppets as support for acting dates back to the Greek age, and it was mainly developed during the modern period. The reason for such a large diffusion was due to the possibility of using affordable materials, such as papier-mâché, for the puppets’ manufacture. In this paper, a method based on the combined use of pulsed thermography (PT) and mid-wave infrared reflectography (MIR) is, for the first time, proposed for the characterization of papier-mâché artworks. In particular, some puppets belonging to the collection of the Museo delle Civiltà in Rome and made by Olga Lampe Minelli, a 20th-century puppet master, were investigated in order to detect damaged areas, such as those affected by insect attacks, and, consequently, to specifically plan suitable restoration works. Finally, the investigations were also carried out after the restoration to evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted treatments.