Using the basic physics technique for analysing materials just outlined, scientists at the university of Genoa are collaborating with colleagues in Florence to analyse the nature and concentrations of atmospheric pollutants collected by special filters. Materials in paints give off X-rays, which tell Professor Papparlado exactly what the paints were made from. Then the conservation specialists can get to work. Analysis of paints and materials in old paintings Paintings and frescoes are among the great treasures of the Italian Renaissance. Professor Guiseppe Papparlado of Catania University, Sicily, uses a transportable physics probe to analyse the paints and materials of frescoes, as an aid to restoration.
Some elements spontaneously release alpha particles.
These particles can only travel a few centimetres in air, and even smaller distances in other materials. As the alpha particles give up their energy to the paints in a fresco, the atoms of the materials in the paints are temporarily disturbed. While these disturbed atoms are regaining their undisturbed states they give off X-rays, which tell Professor Papparlado exactly what the paints were made from. Then the conservation specialists can get to work. The device used by Papparlado's group is the result of using the latest technology in collaboration with the French Atomic Energy Authority laboratory at Sacle, near Paris.