The manufacturing process of the Capitoline She Wolf: a thermographic method for the investigation of repairs and casting faults

Abstract In this paper surface and subsurface features and defects of the Capitoline She Wolf bronze statue have been investigated by combining the use of different configurations of pulsed infrared thermography and their respective data analysis. In particular, mechanical and metallurgic repairs and casting faults, such as bubbles, cavities and bronze ihnomogeneities, have been detected and characterized. The thermographic results, combined with those obtained by other analysis and artistic studies, yielded the identification of the main steps of the manufacturing process, such as the production of the She Wolf internal scaffolding and the casting method.