N1 CERC3 Workshop - Eu-ARTECH

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT – DELIVERABLE N. 7
Short Report
CERC 3 Young Chemists’ Workshop
Chemistry for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Present and
Future Perspectives
Perugia, Italy, March 19 th -22 nd , 2006
supported by
Eu-ARTECH
Access, Research and Technology for the
conservation of the European Cultural Heritage
Integrating Activity
implemented as
Integrated Infrastructure Initiative
Contract number: RII3-CT-2004-506171
Project Co-ordinator: Prof. Brunetto Giovanni Brunetti
Reporting period: from June 1 st 2005 to May 31 st 2006
Project funded by the European Community
under the “Structuring the European Research Area”
Specific Programme Research Infrastructures Action

The CERC3 Young Chemists' Workshop on the Chemistry applications to the field of
Cultural Heritage took place at the end of March 2006 in Perugia (Italy), jointly organised by
the Italian CNR and French CNRS.
Eu-ARTECH supported the initiative.
The Agenda:
Sunday, March 19 th
14.30 - 15.00 Antonio Sgamellotti (CERC3 representative), Opening address
15.00 - 15.30 Francis Secheresse (CNRS) and Sylvie Colinart (French Culture Ministry)
TOPIC 1: Pigments (Chair: M. Regert)
15.30 - 16.00 Sandrine Pages-Campagna (FR): Non or micro-destructive fine characterisation of blue
pigments using a range of complementary elementary and structural analytical techniques.
16.00 – 16.30 Maria João Seixas de Melo (PT): Photochemistry: a soft approach to the
characterization of dyes and lakes in Cultural Heritage.
16.30 – 17.00 Francesca Casadio (US): Plasmonic nanostructures for higly sensitive detection of
traditional artists` red dyestuffs with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
17.00 – 17.30 Coffee break
17.30 – 18.00 Marika Spring (UK): Insight into the chemistry of deteriorated smalt pigment through
analysis of samples from National Gallery paintings.
18.00 – 18.30 Katrine Keune (NL): How red old master paint transforms into black and white.
Monday, March 20 th
TOPIC 2: Organic matter (Chair: L. Cartechini)
9.30 – 10.00 Ineke Joosten (NL): Micro analysis on Hallstatt textiles: colour and condition
10.00 – 10.30 Ilaria Bonaduce (IT): GC-MS and MS analytical procedures for the characterisation of
lipids, waxes, resinous and proteinaceous materials in paint micro-samples and archaeological
residues.
10.30 – 11.00 Martine Regert (FR): Development of an analytical multi-step methodology for the
characterisation of organic substances from our cultural heritage.
11.00- 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 –12.00 Jan Wouters (Invited speaker): The Conservation Committee of the International Council
of Museums (ICOM-CC): why young scientists should get connected to this worldwide professional
network.
12.00 – 12.30 Catherine Higgitt (UK): Propolis (bee glue): an unusual mordant for gilding in Italian
renaissance paintings.
12.30 – 13.00 Agnès Lattuati-Derieux (FR): Development of a non-destructive SPME-GC/MS method
for the characterisation of volatile organic compounds emitted by art objects in the cultural field with
application to conservation materials, archaeological substances and graphic documents.
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch
TOPIC 4: Development of non-destructive techniques (Chair: S. Pages-Campagna)
14.30 – 15.00 Costanza Miliani (IT): Using fiber optic FTIR spectroscopy from mid to near infrared to
asses non-invasively the polychromy composition of easel paintings.
15.00 – 15.30 Peter Vandenabeele (BE): Mobile Raman spectroscopy: a non-destructive tool for the
investigation of objects of art.
15.30 – 16.00 Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet (FR): Towards a non-destructive multi-step analytical
methodology for the provenance determination of archaeological obsidian tools.
16.00 – 16.30 Ina Reiche (FR): Micro-XRF goes 3D – Non-destructive investigations of Paint layers
of Indian Miniatures.

16.30 – 17.00 Melena Calvo del Castillo (ES): Ionoluminescence & Gemstones: a non destructive
characterization method.
17.00 – 17.30 Coffee break
TOPIC 5: Exploiting non-conventional techniques (Chair: F. Casadio)
17.30 – 18.00 Laura Cartechini (IT): Non destructive study of ancient bronzes by neutron diffraction.
18.00 – 18.30 Philippe Dillmann (FR): Iron artefact elaboration and degradation. Filling the gap
between archaeological site and synchrotron ring.
18.30 – 19.00 Edith Joseph (IT): FTIR micro spectroscopy applied to the analysis of painted surface.
19.00 –19.30 Catherine M. Oertel (US): Focused-Ion Beam and Electron Microscopy Studies of
Corrosion in Lead-Tin Alloy Organ Pipes.
Tuesday, March 21 st
TOPIC 3: New materials and methods for conservation (Chair: M. J. Seixas de Melo)
9.30 – 10.00 Esther Rebollar (ES): Cleaning and microanalysis of artworks using lasers.
10.00 – 10.30 Emiliano Carretti (IT): Nanotechnologies based cleaning systems: an innovative tool in
cultural heritage conservation.
10.30 – 11.00 Ilaria Nardini (IT): The stratigraphic study of stone surfaces and the proposal of a new
concept of cleaning intervention.
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 –12.00 Barbara Dal Bianco (IT): Applications of Sol-Gel Silica for the study of ancient glass
weathering.
12.00 - 12.30 Claudia Altavilla (IT): Nanotechnology applied to glass surface protection.
12.30 – 13.00 Maria Brunskog (SE): Japanning - polychromy and still not.
13.00 – 14.30 Lunch
16.00 – 18.30 Visit to the Galleria Nazionale dell`Umbria.
20.30 Social Dinner at Hotel Gio`
Wednesday, March 22 nd
TOPIC 3: New materials and methods for conservation (Chair: C. Miliani)
9.30 – 10.00 Charlotte Gjelstrup Björdal (SE): Waterlogged archaeological wood. Relating
biochemical processes to degradation.
10.00 – 10.30 Sandrine Morlat-Therias (FR): Durability of new polymers for consolidation of
waterlogged woods.
10.30 – 11.00 Patrick Dietemann (DE): Studying the aging of natural resin varnishes - Application of
electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and graphite-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass
spectrometry to the problem.
11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 – 12.00 Barbara Wagner (PL): Micro-spectrochemical investigation of historic manuscripts
endangered by iron-gall ink corrosion.
12.00 – 12.30 António José Estevão Grande Candeias (PT): Characterization of ancient mortars from
different historical ages.
12.30 – 13.00 Closing remarks.
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Extended Abstracts are available on the Eu-ARTECH website (Events)
__________________________________________________________

About 30 young chemists - coming from Italy (7), France (7), UK (2), Spain (2), Portugal (2), Sweden
(2), Germany (1), USA (2), The Netherlands (2) and Belgium (1)- were selected and invited to present
their research activity on the following main topics:
1. pigments;
2. organic matter;
3. new materials and methods for conservation;
4. development of non-destructive techniques;
5. exploiting non-conventional techniques.
All the presentations were of high scientific value. They were systematically followed by several
questions of interest and discussions initiated after the communications were often going on during the
breaks, highlighting the involvement of the participants.
The number of participants (about 30) was ideal for fruitful scientific exchanges. Moreover, the
meeting venue was the same hotel where people were accommodated so they could discuss not only
during the work sections but also during lunches, dinners and social events.
The introduction of the meeting by Prof. Antonio Sgamellotti from CNR & University of Perugia was
of great relevance for presenting the CERC3 activity and the history of the YCWs to participants. Prof.
Francis Sécheresse from the CNRS and Dr. Sylvie Colinart from the French Ministry of Culture gave
an overview of the French research activity on safeguard of Cultural Heritage. The invited conference
from Dr. Jan Wouters from the KIK-IRPA about the ICOM-CC (International Council of Museums-
Conservation Committee) was also appreciated since he provided interesting information on needs of
the ICOM committees.
The meeting was organised around the 5 topics listed above and a short summary of the developed
discussions is provided in the following. The workshop program, the book of abstracts and the list of
participants are also provided in attachment.
Topic 1: Pigments - The first topic regarding the analysis of traditional pigments was discussed
through five talks. First, it has been presented a review on the main issues concerning the
identification of blue pigments ranging from the old synthetic Egyptian blue to the modern cobalt blue.
Then two new analytical tools for the identification of organic lakes have been discussed, one based
on the UV-vis fluorescence micro-spectroscopy and the other based on surface enhancement Raman
effect (SERS). Finally, studies on the mechanism of bleaching of smalt and on that of blackening of
cinnabar have been presented, based on SEM-EDS and SIMS microanalysis of several original
alterated-painting layers.
Topic 2: Organic matter - Five oral communications were presented in this session. All the
presentations illustrated different aspects of the researches dedicated to the study of organic matter
preserved in our cultural heritage. Dyes on textiles, waxy substances, proteinaceous materials,
propolis, a substance produced by bees together with beeswax, were concerned.
Most of the communications insisted on the analytical strategies that have to be developed for
unravelling the complex molecular and elementary composition of organic substances, sometimes
mixed with inorganic ones, in tiny samples made of complex altered molecular mixtures. Analytical
methods based on the complementary use of infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry,
chromatographic procedures, either by HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) or GC (gas
chromatography), potentially coupled with mass spectrometry, were described and the results obtained
on dyes from archaeological Bronze Age and Hallstatt period textiles, on paintings, wax sculptures
and archaeological residues were discussed.
A method recently developed in the field of cultural heritage, SPME GC-MS (Solid Phase Micro-
Extraction Gas Chromatography – Mass spectrometry), that allows to trap the volatile organic
components emitted by various materials, was also emphasized.

Topic 3: New materials and methods for conservation - This topic was organised around eight oral
presentations that may be divided into three main areas: cleaning methods, new ways of glass surface
protection, alteration of various materials such as waterlogged woods or terpenoid resins. Interesting
communications on cases of alteration of Japan polychromy and characterization of ancient mortars
were also presented.
One of the most innovative point was the presentation of new innovative reversible gels for the safe
cleaning of easel paintings. The development of new polymers, issued from PEG on which
antioxidants are grafted also open new perspective for a better preservation of the waterlogged woods
on long periods of time.
Concerning the development of new analytical tools for understanding the alteration of materials from
our Cultural Heritage, the use of GALDI (Graphite Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation) followed by
mass spectrometry analysis was shown to be well adapted for following the oxidation processes to
which terpenoid resins are exposed during ageing.
Topic 4: Development of non-destructive techniques - Within this section five papers have been
presented addressing the up-to-date research activity in that field. Two talks presented new portable
equipments devoted to the study of easel and mural paintings: a portable microRaman and a portable
mid-FTIR fiber-optic spectrometer. Of interest was also the 3D micro-XRF technique exploited for the
non-invasive stratigraphical study of miniatures and the ion luminescence exploited for the noninvasive
identification of gemstones. Finally, the PIXE and microRaman spectroscopies were
discussed in a multi-step analytical methodology to study archaeological obsidians.
Topic 5: Exploiting non-conventional techniques - Four talks have been adressed on this topic
reporting the use of non-conventional techniques to the study of metals. It has been reported about
neutron scattering as a powerful tool for studies of archaeological bronzes due to the high penetration
capability of neutrons and their high sensitivity for structural details in the diffraction mode. The
corrosion products of iron artefacts have been successfully characterized by µXRD and µX ray
Absorption Near Edge Structure (µXANES) experiments on synchrotron beam-lines (ESRF, SLS).
Finally, an interesting paper reported for the first time the use of Focused-Ion Beam and Electron
Microscopy to study of the corrosion in tin-lead alloy organ pipes.
CERC 3 YOUNG CHEMISTS’S WORKSHOP
Perugia, March 19 th -22 nd 2006