Dr Valentina Risdonne
Research Assistant
History of Art, University of Glasgow
Current Projects
Valentina joined the team in July 2021 to work on technical FTIR aspects within the EPSRC funded PISTACHIO project on non-invasive Photonic Imaging Strategies for Technical Art History and Conservation in collaboration with Heriot-Watt University and The Hunterian. While working on the characterisation of the organic and inorganic components of samples collected from the Paint Frame at The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, she is focusing on exploring the potentiality of the new state-of-the-art Thermo Scientific Nicolet iN10 Infrared Microscope acquired thanks to funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Biography
Valentina was born in L’Aquila, Italy. In 2010, she obtained her BSc degree in Technologies for the conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Perugia and, in 2016, her MSc degree in Sciences for the conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Parma. She was professionally trained as a plasterer and decorator of historical buildings in Italy from 2013 to 2014. From 2015 to 2017 she collaborated with the Science Section at the Victoria and Albert Museum on several research projects. In 2019 she worked with Historic Royal Palaces on the documentation of the Rubens ceiling painting at Banqueting House in London, UK. In 2021 she was awarded a PhD in Heritage Science, focusing on materials for coating the nineteenth-century plaster casts and funded by the AHRC. The project was based on a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership between Northumbria University and Victoria and Albert Museum.