Workshop on "Non destructive analysis of cultural ... - Eu-ARTECH

Short Report on the
<strong>Workshop</strong> on “Non destructive analysis of cultural heritage”
Amsterdam, January 12 th , 2005
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
Project funded by the European Community
under the “Structuring the European Research Area”
Specific ProgrammeResearch Infrastructures action
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During January 2005, two Eu-ARTECH events have been held in Amsterdam, hosted and
organised by ICN:
I-a workshop on “Non-destructive analysis of cultural heritage artefacts”, 12 th January;
II-the 1 st Year Interim Meeting, 13 th -15 th January.
The Minute of the workshop is reported in the following.
(On January 13 th , the MOLAB Peer Review Committee meeting was also held. The report on this
latter meeting will be annexed to the Annual Report).
I - <strong>Workshop</strong> on “Non destructive analysis of cultural heritage artefacts”
(Amsterdam, January 12 th , 2005)
Networking Activity 1- Task 1: Sharing knowledge and resources
(<strong>Workshop</strong> Resp.: M. van Bommelt and A.Tagle, ICN)
The one-day workshop was held within Eu-ARTECH networking activity 1 - Sharing knowledge
and resources- as conclusion of a survey on the state-of-the-art of non-destructive techniques for
applications in artwork studies and conservation in Europe. Behind the goal of the task, the
workshop was an occasion for dissemination of knowledge and diffusion of information on Eu-
ARTECH activities, including AGLAE and MOLAB Access programmes.
The Agenda was the following:
9:00 - 9:30 Introductory remarks by A. Tagle , ICN, Amsterdam, J.L. Boutaine , C2RMF,
Paris; B.Brunetti, Eu-ARTECH Coordinator, Perugia
9:30 -10:00 J. Salomon, C2RMF, Paris - Recent development on the AGLAE ion beam
analysis facility
10:00-10:30 A. Adriaens , Gent University-COST G8 chairperson - The use of non-
destructive techniques in COST Action G8: past activities and future perspectives
10:30 -11:00 E. Pantos, Daresbury Synchrotron Laboratory, UK - Applications of synchrotron
radiation
11:00 - 11-30 Coffe Break
11:30-12:00 D. Visser, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, Chilton, UK - Neutron diffraction
studies on cultural heritage
12:10 -12:30 M. Rossbach, IAEA, Wien, Applications of neutron activation analysis to pre-
Hispanic ceramics: results of a co-ordinated research programme of the IAEA
12:30-13:30 Lunch Buffet
13:30-14:00 C. Miliani, CNR-ISTM and Centre SMAArt, University of Perugia – First
examples of MOLAB campaign
14:00-14:30 J. Perlo, RWTH – Aachen, D - Applications of NMR techniques
14:30-15:00 R. Salimbeni, CNR-IFAC Firenze, I, COST G7 Chairperson - Laser techniques in
conservation
15:00-15:30 Coffe Break
15:30-16:00 M.Dubus , C2RMF Paris, F - Use of in-situ corrosion monitors for cultural
heritage buildings survey
16:00-16:30 K. Janssens , Antwerp University, B - The PRAXIS project, portable XRF &
Raman instrumentation dedicated to artwork analysis
16:30–17:00 P.Wyeth, University of Southhampton (Textile Conservation Centre), UK -
Ascertaining the condition of historic textiles: monitoring deterioration using
infrared and Raman spectroscopy
17:00-18:30 Drink
The initiative was publicised through the contacts that Eu-ARTECH established with several
laboratories in Europe and with other European organisations and projects, such as COST G7 and
COST G8. A significant success was obtained, as witnessed by the participation of 72 researchers
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from 11 countries, belonging to 25 institutions “external” to the Consortium, including museums,
universities, research centres and SME’s.
From the interventions of the speakers (some of them were invited by Eu-ARTECH) emerged
clearly how the application of the most advanced techniques of material science (such as those of
MOLAB or AGLAE or those involving large scale facilities such as synchrotrons, neutron sources
or laser centres) are today offering unprecedented level of information, while new techniques are
opening new perspectives, including non-destructive analytical studies of materials below the
external surface.
The workshop was formally divided in two parts. The first part (morning) was devoted to
laboratory non-destructive techniques, while the second part (afternoon) was dedicated to the
application of portable equipments.
During the first part, J.Salomon (C2RMF) presented recent advancements of AGLAE, which
substantially improve the performances of the laboratory open to Transnational Access. A.
Adriaens (COST G8 chairperson) presented the more advanced applications of non-destructive
techniques to museum objects, as emerged from COST G8 activities. E.Pantos (SRS,Daresbury)
and D.Visser (ISIS, Chilton) presented several cases of applications of synchrotron radiation and
neutron scattering techniques, respectively. They made several examples clearly showing the high
potentialities of large scale facilities in giving accurate information useful both for archaeometric
studies or problem solving in conservation. Finally, M. Rossbach (IAEA, Wien) presented the
results of a co-ordinated research programme of the IAEA on the applications of neutron
activation analysis.
In the second part, C. Miliani (UNI-PG) presented the first results obtained by Transantional
Access to MOLAB at the Museum of Fine Arts of Besancon (study of the Lamentation on the
Dead Christ of Agnolo Bronzino, 1545): the coupling of information from several measurements,
ranging from high-resolution IR-colour reflectography, to microprophilometry, fluorescence
imaging, XRF, FT-IR and micro-fluorescence, allowed users to obtain a unique and rich set of
information essential to proceed to a correct restoration of the painting. J.Perlo (RWTH, Aachen)
showed the potentialities of NMR relaxation techniques for stratigraphic studies of paintings
without any sampling. R. Salimbeni (COST G7 chairperson) made a general review of the state-ofthe-art
in the application of laser techniques to artwork studies and to their restoration, showing the
more recent significant results and drawing future perspectives. M.Dubus (C2RMF) presented
recent results in the monitoring of corrosions in buildings. K.Janssens (University of Antwerp)
showed the advantages of applications of portable equipments capable to carry out, in the same
point, analyses by different approaches, such as XRF and micro-Raman. Finally, P.Weith
presented recent examples of monitoring of historical textiles using infrared and Raman
spectroscopy.
At the end of the day, underlining that the development of new methodologies for nondestructive
analyses is certainly one of the challenging tasks for the research in the field during the
next years, the Coordinator reminded the main line of development of the Consortium activities,
announcing other future Eu-ARTECH workshops open to external participants. One of these will
regard organic substance analyses.
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