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Laser conservation of art

Nature Materials volume 6, pages 320–322 (2007)Cite this article

Focusing a laser on the dirt covering a precious work of art may seem like a dangerous thing to do, but this unexpected technique has found a variety of cleaning applications. Analogies from other fields of materials science can provide guidance for its use, and model experiments ensure it doesn't all end in disaster.

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Figure 1: The Acropolis, Athens, Greece.
Figure 2: Stratigraphy of an idealized canvas painting.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the contributions from our colleagues at IESL-FORTH and EU Research Infrastructure Laserlab-Europe (R113-CT-2003-506350). The conservation of the Acropolis West Frieze is a collaborative project between IESL-FORTH, ESMA (Committee for the Preservation of the Acropolis Monuments) and YSMA (Acropolis Restoration Service).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (IESL-FORTH), PO Box 1385, Heraklion, 71110, Greece

    Austin Nevin, Paraskevi Pouli, Savas Georgiou & Costas Fotakis

  2. Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN, UK

    Austin Nevin

  3. Department of Physics, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, Haraklion, 71003, Greece

    Costas Fotakis

  4. Costas Fotakis

Authors
  1. Austin Nevin
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  2. Paraskevi Pouli
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  3. Savas Georgiou
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  4. Costas Fotakis
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Nevin, A., Pouli, P., Georgiou, S. et al. Laser conservation of art. Nature Mater 6, 320–322 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1895

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