Non-invasive Investigations of Paintings by Portable Instrumentation: The MOLAB Experience

The in situ non invasive methods have experienced a significantdevelopment in the last decade because they meet specific needs of analyticalchemistry in the field of cultural heritage where artworks are rarely moved fromtheir locations, sampling is rarely permitted, and analytes are a wide range ofinorganic, organic and organometallic substances in complex and precious matrices.MOLAB, a unique collection of integrated mobile instruments, has greatly contributedto demonstrate that it is now possible to obtain satisfactory results in thestudy of a variety of heritage objects without sampling or moving them to a laboratory.The current chapter describes an account of these results with particularattention to ancient, modern, and contemporary paintings. Several non-invasivemethods by portable equipment, including XRF, mid- and near-FTIR, UV-Vis andRaman spectroscopy, as well as XRD, are discussed in detail along with their impacton our understanding of painting materials and execution techniques. Examples ofsuccessful applications are given, both for point analyses and hyperspectral imagingapproaches. Lines for future perspectives are finally drawn.