In collaboration with the Museum of Kranj we studied the wood of 24 Orthodox icons for unknown age and origin. The objectives of this study were to identify the wood species, to survey the characteristics and defects of the wood, and to perform dendrochronological analysis on the icons containing more than 50 tree-rings. We also assessed the state of wood preservation and provided suggestions for its conservation. Macroscopic wood identification and tree-ring measurements were performed in the museum; the photos of the icons were taken there also. Microscopic wood identification was carried out at the Department of Wood Science and technology. The icons were made of 8 different wood species. 10 of them were made from Norway spruce, 6 of walnut, 2 of fir, cypress and sweet chestnut, and 1 of pine and elm. 1 cross was made of spruce and one horizontal bar of poplar. Some of the icons contained minor defects like the presence of pith, local collapse of wood, wound-wood and smaller knots. Juvenile wood, which causes greater shrinkage and swelling, has been observed as well. Larger knots affecting the appearance of the painted side of the icon were also found. Insect damage was detected in 7 icons and that of fungi in 1. Tree-ring widths were measured in 4 icons made of spruce wood and in 1 made of Scots pine or black pine; they all contained more than 50 tree-rings. Dendrochronological dating was not successful due to the lack of appropriate reference chronologies for SE Europe, the area from which the icons probably originate.
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