The Contribution of IoT to the Implementation of Preventive Conservation According to European Standards: The Case Study of the “Cannone” Violin and Its Historical Copy

Abstract

One of the main goals of preventive conservation (PC) is to reduce the risk of possible damage produced by the interaction between tangible heritage objects and their conservation environments. This work aims to introduce the European standard EN 15757:2010 as a potential tool for implementing effective museum PC, and it details the potential contributions of both active environmental control and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in this regard. An application of this strategy is proposed by means of a case study of the conservation of two historical violins, part of a small but significant museum collection in the City of Genoa dedicated to Paganini, whose value is inestimable. According to the standard, monitoring of environmental parameters was carried out for more than four years in the Paganini Hall of Palazzo Doria-Tursi Museum. A remote-control system was implemented, installing digital sensors in the room and in the two showcases. The data were continuously collected through an integrated platform for supervision, monitoring and shared management, based on web-cloud-IoT technology. The analysis of climate data and the assessment of the “historic climate” led to the installation of an active control system on the display cases of the “Cannone” violin and its historical copy. The intervention resulted in a cost-effective improvement in the conservation conditions of the two objects, with an efficient system of warning and safety alarms and a protocol of resolution actions still active and ongoing. The application of IoT systems in monitoring and controlling the indoor climate of heritage collections facilitated the care of the objects at a cost reduction for the institution.

Conservazione preventiva al Museo di Antropologia e Etnologia dell'Università degli Studi di Firenze

“…Tale situazione ha reso necessaria l'installazione di un ulteriore sistema di monitoraggio utilizzando strumenti forniti da CEAM Group, azienda partner del progetto: tali strumenti sono basati sulla tecnologia LoRa, long range, e trasmettono i dati di T e UR a una centralina che invia in tempo reale i dati a una piattaforma web-cloud di Internet of Things (IoT, internet degli oggetti, una modalità di connessione di oggetti smart) (Manfriani, 2021).…”

A Methodology for the Multi-Point Characterization of Short-Term Temperature Fluctuations in Complex Microclimates Based on the European Standard EN 15757:2010: Application to the Archaeological Museum of L’Almoina (Valencia, Spain)

“…Thus, it was decided to apply the proposed methodology only to T recordings in order to facilitate the interpretation of deviations from the common pattern. Other works have also applied EN 15757:2010 to the case of temperatures [21,[25][26][27][28]. The present work is a contribution to the literature about indoor environments in Mediterranean climates in the context of cultural heritage [26,29,[33][34][35].…”

“…This standard is usually applied for RH because it is assumed to be the most determining factor in the damage of hygroscopic materials like wood, fabric or paper. Nonetheless, several studies have also used EN 15757:2010 for the diagnosis of temperatures [21,[24][25][26][27][28].…”

Optimisation of Ukrainian Legislation in Line with European Human Rights Standards

“…Such norms are permanent and cannot be changed or adapted to the realities of a particular state (Hooghe & Marks, 2019). The duration of the implementation of European standards in the country's legislation is individualised and depends on the level of the state's development, motivation and availability of qualified personnel (Manfriani et al, 2021). At the same time, the state's compliance with national legislation and European human rights standards affects the formation of the state's image at the international level.…”