Ancient art preservation has undergone significant advancements over the years with the help of modern technology. Today's art conservators usually have a background not only in art but in sciences such as physics, chemistry and geology.
X-Rays, Needles and Infrared Cameras
At Harvard University's Straus Center for Conservation, X-rays are used to find cracks in art works, tiny chips of paintings are extracted with needles and then examined under microscopes and infrared cameras are employed to look beneath paint surfaces to see drawings used in the artist's planning and preparations. These techniques have proven especially helpful in determining and restoring a painting's original coloring, which may have changed dramatically over time.
Spectrographs and Chromatography
Med-Colour-Tech, a European research project, is using a physiochemical approach to improve preservation techniques. Scientists for the project use spectrographs (pictures produced through instruments that measure light) and chromatography (measurements of absorbency) to reproduce and renew traditional coloring techniques.
Scientific Experiments with Color Recipes
Because synthetic dyes fade away quickly, scientists at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Marmara in Istanbul are experimenting with ancient coloring methods--by altering the amount of organic compounds, temperature or dissolving time--to produce pigments identical to those historically used.
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