Application of Full‐field X‐ray Absorption Spectroscopy Imaging in Transmission Mode to Study Cultural Heritage Samples

This chapter illustrates the opportunities offered by the Full-field X-ray near edge structure (FF-XANES) approach in the Cultural Heritage field by a number of case studies (i.e. painting, ink and ceramic) with questions regarding both artistic techniques and transformation/degradation processes of the constitutive materials. In combination with other conventional spectroscopy techniques, this approach has proven essential in providing supplementary spatially resolved chemical information that is crucial to answering questions about artistic processes and degradation mechanisms. The combination of high-resolution/small field of view (FOV) Transmission X-ray Microscopy and low-resolution/large-FOV full-field or dispersive instruments makes it possible to perform multi-scale analyses by combining millimetric field of view with nanometer resolution and ends into relevant information at the object scale. X-ray spectro-ptychography recently opened up nanoscale chemical imaging and structural analysis for heterogeneous materials that can benefit the cultural heritage community.