From physics to art and back

Abstract

Scientists studying cultural heritage use a variety of physics techniques to understand how pieces were made, their history and how to best preserve them. Six scientists who use different techniques describe their work -and how working with cultural heritage can lead to physics developments, too.

From Nanoparticles to Gels: A Breakthrough in Art Conservation Science

“…Even in cases where the presence of amphiphilic additives in the coating film discourage its dewetting from the artistic substrate, the fast dynamic exchange of solvent, surfactant, and cosurfactant from the NCFs continuous and dispersed phases to the polymer layer causes its swelling, softening, and feasible detachment. Overall, these features are key to achieve the high versatility and efficacy that the NCFs have exhibited in the past decades over a range of case studies spanning from classic frescos and the Renaissance to modern/contemporary masterpieces by Pablo Picasso. ,,,− Figure shows two examples where the NCFs were used to remove aged varnish from a painted wood panel and a complex superimposition of synthetic polymer coatings accumulated on wall paintings in the Annunciation Basilica in Nazareth (Israel) owing to past restorations in the past decades.…”

“…Only soil, and no red pigment, adheres to the gel sheet following the application. 5,6 The cleaning is completed using the TC-PN hydrogel shaped as an eraser gum; no red pigment adheres to the eraser gum. consolidation, protection, and cleaning of works of art.…”

“…In response to these issues, interfacial and colloidal chemistry has taken the lead over the past decades in devising and establishing novel advanced solutions for the remedial and preventive conservation of cultural heritage. ,,− Systems like nanoparticles, composite nanomaterials, and soft condensed matter have proven to be valuable tools in the consolidation, cleaning, and protection of works of art belonging to different artistic and historical productions. While this retrospectively comes as a natural result considering that degradation processes often start at the nano- and mesoscale of the artifacts’ surface and interfaces, it must be noticed that the formation of a scientific framework fully dedicated to the design of colloidal systems for art conservation took some time to emerge, initially starting as germinal ideas not yet validated by common views in science.…”

Neutron Imaging and Learning Algorithms: New Perspectives in Cultural Heritage Applications

“…These methods convert radiographic data into compressed information with the help of dedicated software tools. Due to the interaction processes of neutrons with the matter, they are considered an ideal probe for the non-destructive and non-invasive investigation of cultural heritage objects [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Indeed, neutrons interact with the atomic nuclei with a penetration depth of incident beam that is a function of the sample: for metal alloys, pottery, and stones they access the bulk of the objects without substantial attenuation while they are highly sensitive to light elements such as hydrogen [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

“…Due to the interaction processes of neutrons with the matter, they are considered an ideal probe for the non-destructive and non-invasive investigation of cultural heritage objects [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Indeed, neutrons interact with the atomic nuclei with a penetration depth of incident beam that is a function of the sample: for metal alloys, pottery, and stones they access the bulk of the objects without substantial attenuation while they are highly sensitive to light elements such as hydrogen [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Significant progress has been made regarding spatial and temporal resolutions, achieved in different ways such as the optimization of the optical camera that collects the signal from the scintillator screen [ 19 ] and the use of axisymmetric grazing-incidence focusing mirrors [ 20 , 21 ], transforming pinhole cameras into microscopes.…”