Microbiological Analysis of Surfaces of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Atlantic Codex: Biodeterioration Risk

Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Microbiology Volume 2014, Article ID 214364, 7 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/214364 Research Article Microbiological Analysis of Surfaces of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Atlantic Codex: Biodeterioration Risk Gianfranco Tarsitani,1 Catia Moroni,2 Francesca Cappitelli,3 Giovanna Pasquariello,4 and Oriana Maggi5 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Medico-chirurgiche e Medicina Traslazionale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy 3 Dipartimento di Scienze per gli Alimenti, La Nutrizione e l’Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy 4 National Institute of Graphic Arts, MIBACT, Via della Stamperia 6, 00187 Rome, Italy 5 Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy Correspondence should be addressed to Gianfranco Tarsitani; Received 9 September 2014; Revised 24 November 2014; Accepted 25 November 2014; Published 10 December 2014 Academic Editor: Giuseppe Comi Copyright © 2014 Gianfranco Tarsitani et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Following the discovery of discoloration on some pages of the Atlantic Codex (AC) of Leonardo da Vinci kept in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, some investigations have been carried out to verify the presence of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. To verify the presence of microorganisms a noninvasive method of sampling has been used that was efficient and allowed us to highlight the microbial facies of the material that was examined using conventional microbiological techniques. The microclimatic conditions in the storage room as well as the water content of the volume were also assessed. The combined observations allowed the conclusion that the discoloration of suspected biological origin on some pages of AC is not related to the presence or current attack of microbial agents. 1. Introduction The Atlantic Codex (AC) is the largest collection of drawings and writings by Leonardo da Vinci, including 1,119 pages collected in 12 volumes, and it is currently preserved at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The sheets (64.5 × 43.5 cm) were assembled in no particular order and cover a long period of Leonardo studies, from 1478 to 1519. The drawings and writings focus on different topics: anatomy, astronomy, botany, chemistry, geography, mathematics, mechanics, machinery drawings, studies on the flight of birds, and architectural projects. The AC has undergone several restorations and the new binding in 12 volumes occurred in the period 1970–73. In relation to the present assessments, that restoration period is probably the critical starting time of the discoloration when one considers that Leonardo da Vinci’s antique pages were pasted on modern paper at that time. Following the discovery of some discoloration on the pages of the AC, some investigations have been carried out. In October-November 2007, the AC was fully digitized and since 2008 several analyses and assessments have followed, including the present study, to estimate the presence of bacteria or microfungi possibly contributing to ongoing damage. In the old maps drawn by Leonardo the raw materials were mainly composed of selected cotton cloth containing almost pure cellulose [1]. The biological attack of paper materials is therefore mainly due to cellulolytic organisms such as bacteria and fungi [2–6]. The presence in these organisms of the cellulase enzyme complex can catalyze specific actions to break the polymer. The damage varies from 2 International Journal of Microbiology erosion to formation of age spots more or less pronounced [7, 8]. The biological attack is a function of environmental relative humidity and correlated levels of water absorption [9]. Relative humidity is a function of both the absolute amount of water present in the air and ambient temperatures. When the materials reach water content greater than 10% (usually because the air relative humidity is above 60%), some species can germinate and grow [10]. The water demand varies significantly more or less depending on the organisms, which can be defined as hydrophilous or xerophilous [11–13]. The research was carried out on some antique AC pages to determine the nature of the discoloration, a suspected biotic origin, and the possible presence of hazardous conditions for the precious manuscript, using both culture and cultureindependent microbiological techniques [14–16]. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Sampling. The sampling campaigns were carried out in two different days spaced about one month in June and in July. The first intervention included visual and instrumental observation (handle magnifying lighted glass—10x magnification) of the antique sheets as they were affixed onto new pages and the taking of samples, using a noninvasive method. In particular, the original (antique paper—on AC) and new support sheets (modern paper—outer AC) pages 673, 776, and 843 (Figure 1) of the AC were tested, both in areas stained and not stained (on and outer AC), for microbiological culture and molecular analysis. Some control samples were done on one facsimile of the AC (commercial scanned copy) kept in an environment next to the AC repository. During the second intervention, the percentage of water in the pages of the AC was evaluated; the spots were observed with the help of an optical microscope (60x–100x lighted mini-microscope) and microbiological samples of pages 843 and 895 (verso and recto) were taken. 2.2. Microclimatic Measurements. The microclimatic parameters of temperature and humidity were recorded with punctual measurements during the two days of sampling with the use of thermohygrometer Salmoiraghi. Water content (%) of the pages of the AC was measured by the contact hygrometer Aqua Boy with a fork-shaped probe. 2.3. Cultivation Assays. To verify the presence of microorganisms on the pages of the volume a noninvasive sampling technique was used [17]. The aseptic sampling was performed by a single operator using nitrocellulose membranes (Sartorius AG, Göttingen, Germany, 47 mm in diameter, corresponding to an area of 17.34 cm2 ), handled with sterile forceps on the surface of the manuscript, gently pressed with a sterile swab for 30 s. Then the surfaces of membranes were rubbed repeatedly with a sterile cotton swab, electrostatically charged to improve the adhesion of particles present. Thereafter, the membranes were laid out on RODAC contact plates of 55 mm in diameter, containing the following media: Tryptone Soy Agar (TSA) for the mesophilic bacteria; Sabouraud Agar + Figure 1 chloramphenicol (SAB) for the microfun (...truncated)