Low cost monitoring approach for the conservation of frescoes: The crypt of St. Francesco d'Assisi in Irsina (Basilicata, Southern Italy)

tEnvironmental monitoring is one of the main diagnostic tools considered for appropriate strategies aimedat preserving cultural heritage. However, monitoring systems are only apparently tools easy to use andmanage; actually, they hide several drawbacks including, for example, high purchase costs as well as sig-nificant financial commitment related to the management and the data processing. This implies that theuse of technologies to monitor cultural heritage is usually limited to high relevance monuments or siteshaving marked historical-cultural value. In order to enhance the use and the spreading of technologies forthe microclimate monitoring, a research activity within PRO CULT (Advanced Methodological approachesand technologies for Protection and Security of Cultural Heritage) and Smart Basilicata projects was per-formed. The projects' aim was to test low cost technologies to monitor and manage cultural heritage tryingto significantly reduce the acquisition and maintenance costs so as to facilitate wider use of the monitor-ing systems to safeguard "minor" heritage. Starting from this point of view, an equipment prototype tomonitor the indoor microclimate environment of confined environment was planned, taking into accountthe low cost (LC) approach as the basic assumption. In order to evaluate the LC performance, the systemwas tested in relationship with the decay problems affecting the frescoes of the crypt of St. Francescod'Assisi in Irsina (Basilicata, Southern Italy) and the survey data were compared with those recorded bya standard commercial system (CS). All this in mind, the article discusses the comparative analysis ofthe two microclimate monitoring systems in relationship with the decay problems of frescoes hostedin the crypt of St. Francesco d'Assisi. The system comparison shows a quite complete matching of thethermo-hygrometric values. Furthermore, the survey puts into evidence as the microclimate conditionsin the crypt are not suitable for the conservation of the frescoes. The studies based on the microclimateanalyses together with other in situ surveys allowed to propose possible technical solutions to mitigatethe decay risk related to the artistic heritage.