Adriana Iuliano

Adriana Iuliano is a heritage scientist, interested in the physico-chemical study of heritage materials and techniques.

Adriana is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Fitzwilliam Museum/Hamilton Kerr Institute. She works within the MakingAI project, in collaboration with the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP). Her research focuses on the integration and interpretation of complex, heterogeneous analytical datasets from heritage objects, combining scientific analysis with technical art history. Through the MakingAI project, she contributes to new data capture and legacy data processing workflows, with the goal of building coherent artistic and artisanal narratives across cultures, places, and time.

Prior to Cambridge, Adriana completed her PhD in Physics of Archaeomaterials at Archéosciences Bordeaux (Bordeaux Montaigne University/University of Bordeaux), where she focused on the multi-analytical investigation of a large corpus of Gallo-Roman wall painting fragments. Her project combined non-invasive and micro-invasive analytical methods with archaeological knowledge to shed light on ancient pigments and painting practices in Roman Gaul.

Earlier research experiences took her to the CNR–Institute of Heritage Science in Florence, where she studied painting materials and degradation products of panel paintings by Giorgio Vasari from Palazzo Vecchio, and to the Rathgen Research Laboratory in Berlin, where she investigated the production technique of polychrome Sumerian clay cones from the Pergamonmuseum.

Adriana holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Glasgow and an MSc in Science for the Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Heritage from the University of Bologna.

Outside research, her curiosity takes many forms: scouting, politics, street photography, concerts, and her ongoing knitting projects. She speaks Italian, English and French – and has not entirely given up on the bass guitar.