Multispectral Imaging has been developed by combining digital imaging and spectroscopy. It consists in acquiring two‐dimensional images at different wavelengths within a given spectral range and allows to simultaneously record spatial and spectral information. In the case of paintings, selecting different illuminants and spectral ranges stratigraphic information can be obtained: with UV sources, the fluorescence emission from the superficial layer; with visible light, the reflectance from pictorial layers; with IR sources, images of underdrawings and pentimenti.
The Laboratory for nondestructive analyses and archaeometry (LANDA) has a long-lasting experience in the field of the archaeometric study of Cultural Heritages.
By using nondestructive analytical methods mural and easel paintings, ceramics, metal and stone artifacts, books, etc. are analyzed in order to obtain information on the materials constituting the artifacts and on the techniques used to realize them. These information are used to understand the provenance of the objects, to reconstruct ancient usage, to attribute a masterpiece to a specific artist, to attest the authenticity of an artwork or to identify the degradation processes that affect the integrity of an artifact.
The techniques used by the researchers of the laboratory LANDA are the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (ED-XRF), Raman spectroscopy, reflectance spectroscopy in the UV-Vis-NIR range, UV induced fluorescence spectroscopy, radiography and Multispectral Imaging. All the instruments are portable and this allows to perform in situ analyses in museums and archaeological sites.
Among the works of art studied:
- the “Lupa Capitolina”
- the Massenzio’s Imperial insigna from Palatino
- the Vallerano mirror (Museo Nazionale Romano)
- Etruscan mirrors from the Gorga collection
- Andrea Pozzo’s wall paintings in the former Refectory of the Trinità dei Monti convent in Rome
- epitaph of Pope Hadrian I in Saint Peter’s in the Vatican
- metal artworks from Ebla (Syria)
- Mayadevi temple in Lumbini (Nepal) (UNESCO World Heritage)
