A short note on the archaeometric study of two sculptures in the Gabinetto Segreto of Naples National Archeological Museum: the ‘Pan and the She-Goat’ group and the ‘Bikini Venus’

Presented here are the results of an archeological
and archaeometric study of two famous marble sculptures
displayed in the Gabinetto Segreto of the National
Archeological Museum of Naples: the BPan and She-Goat^
group from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum and the
statue of the BBikini Venus^ leaning on a statuette of Priapus
from the House of Julia Felix in Pompeii. This study offers
some art historical observations about the sculptures and the
first minero-petrographic (polarizing microscopy on thin section and x-ray diffraction on powders) and isotopic (C and O
stable isotope ratio) investigation of their marble types. The
results indicate that the BPan and She-Goat^ group employed
the statuary white Carrara variety, while the Parian lychnites
was used for the BBikini Venus^. Analyses proved also that
the red finishing layer present on the latter statue is composed
by sandyx.